Project Carrot
by Thalia Marie Grace
Summary: There were four people—me, Morgenstern, Simon, and Isabelle. Simon and Isabelle are paired together. Clary must be thinking what I am, because she snarls a very loud, "No!" at Graymark. Graymark smiles sheepishly at her. Oh, boy. Here we go. "Last partners: Jace Lightwood and Clary Morgenstern." [AU/AH. Companion to Project Marriage.]
1. one

**Author's Note: Hello! *waves* Long time no see, eh? Even though it's really only been a day and a half...**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Clary Morgenstern is one stubborn bitch.

I've known her since we were fifth graders together. I don't know _what _started our bickering, but since then we've basically hated each other's guts. And that still goes on today—seven years later, seniors in high school.

It's not that she's ugly or anything; she's actually pretty. Her eyes are a sparkling green and although her hair is the colour of a carrot, it really suits her well. That's pretty much _why _I call her Carrot all the time. But I don't have a crush on her or anything, so _don't _get ideas in your head.

I only have one class with her, and that's psychology. I'm always the first person in that class—and she's always the second. Why I decided to take the mandatory psychology class my _senior _year, I have no idea; why Clary decided to wait is beyond me. Part of me is glad she's in my class, but most of me really just hates it.

"Morning, Carrot," I say cheerfully to her. Clary's expression morphs into one of annoyance, and I grin at this.

"Piss off." she grumbles, all-but slamming her book-bag on her desk.

I make a noise. She is _not _in a good mood today, but when has that stopped me from teasing her? "Ouch, Morgenstern—I thought this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

"Well, clearly you thought wrong." Clary retorts. "I don't know _how _you could think, anyway—you're so stupid there's no way in hell that you have a brain."

Oh. Ow. That one really stung. "Looks like someone's on her period," I grumble under my breath, mostly to myself, slouching slightly in my seat.

"Good morning." my sister trills, and I know that my bickering with Clary Morgenstern is over for the day. Isabelle hates it when I'm rude to people.

"It was good until Carrot ruined it for me." Okay, maybe I can have a little bit more fun. "I always knew I hated vegetables for a reason."

My sister reacts immediately. It's her calm down expression—the one where there's a monster raging inside of her but she's trying her hardest to keep it contained because she's in public. I have no doubt that she could lose it right here—except that her crush walks through the doors.

Simon Lewis. Clary's nerdy best friend. Of all people to like, Isabelle just _had _to pick him. He glances at me, and then at Clary, and then at Isabelle's back, and then slides into his desk. I laugh on the inside, but laughing out loud would only make it worse.

The scene is over when the rest of the class enters the room and take their seats. Will Herondale sits down next to me and mutters a hello that I don't return.

Mr. Graymark comes in last. Why teachers always get to be late to class I'll never know. He gives us all a too-wide smile and says, "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mr. Graymark," groans the class. I see Clary flash the teacher a small smile—like the teacher's pet she is.

"We've got a new project that will take us to the end of the year," he says gleefully. Uh-oh. If Graymark is gleeful that means trouble. I bite my tongue to keep from groaning. "The project will start on Monday, so you'll have the weekend to yourselves to prepare. The project in question is something very new but something very interesting." His eyes flash to Morgenstern. "I was given inspiration by two friends of mine."

Any friend of Graymark has to be mental. That only makes it worse.

"Anyway, we're going to do a little bonding project. And something that hopefully will show _some _of you not to make irresponsible decisions too early." Luke glares at Jordan and Maia, and then at Tessa and Jem. I laugh. It's obvious he's talking about early marriage or sex or something like that. "It's called Project Marriage."

Oh. Wow. "What an _original _title." I say sarcastically. Not like I could _guess _what this project is about or anything.

"It's better than anything _you _could come up with, Lightwood," hisses Clary to me. Right. Of course she's defending Graymark.

But Mr. Graymark just sighs. "For the next five or so months, you will be 'married' to a fellow student—you'll be living at each other's houses, going everywhere with each other. Just like a real married couple."

With my luck, Morgenstern will probably be my partner.

"What's the point of this project?" inquires my twin.

"Human interaction." Luke moves to stand behind his desk. "The people I've paired you with are _not _random—you may hate this person, or be involved with them already, or not even know them. It's a test to see how well you get along in the beginning—throughout—and in the end."

He throws a glance at Clary and pulls out a piece of paper that I can only assume is the list of partners. "Every day in class until the end of the year, we will be monitoring and recording progress. This project is considered your psychology final for this semester, so do not take this lightly. No switching partners. No exceptions. I have contacted all of your parents already, so they all know what to expect. I will be notified if you are not doing the project correctly."

Oh, great. My parents love getting me in trouble. This will be a struggle.

He names the first pairs of partners: Jordan and Maia, Aline and Helen. Neither of those are a surprise. Aline and Helen are secretly dating. Well, not-so-secretly. Jordan and Maia are dating too.

But when he says Tessa and William, I'm surprised. Tessa's dating Jem, who's Will's best friend. That will be one hell of a project for them.

Jem and Kaelie, Celine and Stephen, Emma and Julian, Rebecca and Eric, Christina and Mark, Sebastian and Cat. There are only four people in class left—me, Iz, Simon, and Clary Morgenstern.

"Tenth partners," says Graymark, "Simon Lewis and Isabelle Lightwood."

I fight the grin off my face. It's what Isabelle wants. She turns to look at him and I try my hardest not to grin. Simon sits straight up in his seat. I hope I get at least a few minutes to tease them every once in a while.

And then I realise what's happening.

There were four people—me, Morgenstern, Simon, and Isabelle. Simon and Isabelle are paired together.

Clary must be thinking what I am, because she snarls a very loud, "_No!" _at Graymark._  
><em>

Graymark smiles sheepishly at her. Oh, boy. Here we go. "Last partners: Jace Lightwood and Clary Morgenstern."

This is going to be interesting.

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><p><strong>So I have yet to write chapter twenty-seven of Project Marriage, only because I'm a little stumped at the moment as to how I would like to continue it. And I had figured I left all of you wanting this story for so long that I was going to put an end to your suffering! So what did you think?<strong>


	2. two

**Author's Note: guess who's back, back again**

**kaitlyn's back, tell a friend**

**(even though it's only been **_**one **_**day since i posted a chapter hahahahahaha okay)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

Clary looks completely rigid, and it's this body language and the absolute _loathing _rolling off her in waves that makes me want to goad her all the more. So, I state loudly, "I am _not _marrying _her_," and as she turns to face me, I make my expression angry: raised eyebrows, mouth wide, eyes blazing.

Clary's expression is shocked and pissed, and if I wasn't trying to pull off an angry look here I would have been laughing. "Technically, you aren't." Graymark says. There's cheerfulness in his tone—he's enjoying this. Eh, so will I. I get to live in the same house with Morgenstern for five months. She's going to be so sick of me. It's gonna be great. "You're not really getting married."

I fight back a smile as Clary's expression becomes even _more _agitated. "But you're implying that I have to _act _as if Carrot is my wife." I tell him, and watch as Clary scowls silently. "That's not going to happen." I cross my arms over my chest for effect.

Graymark sighs heavily and he sets the stupid partner list down on his desk. "I'm afraid you feel that way, Mr. Lightwood." (Sometimes, he sounds _very _old English, and it's very weird. Who even says 'I'm afraid you feel that way' anymore? Old English people, _that's who._) "If you refuse to be her partner, Clary will not have one. She'll fail the class and have to retake her senior year."

Is that the only price? Then let's do it. I snort. "Like that's any of my concern."

Clary inhales sharply. Ha. She's pissed off.

"But you won't have a partner, either." Graymark explains. I'm aware of the entire class watching the teacher, Carrot, and I. "And then _you'll _fail the class and you'll have to retake _your _senior year."

When my eyes bug, it's entirely natural. So is Carrot's smirk. If I fail, along with Carrot, that means I'd have to _see _her again next year. Great. I just love my life.

That was sarcasm.

"I'm sure Clary's more than willing to be your partner in this project." Graymark looks at Clary with—is he _pleading? _Someone give me a camera. This is too good to be true, if a teacher is pleading with a student. "Aren't you, Clary?"

To my surprise, Clary smiles. But it's totally fake after I look at it for more than a second. "Oh, yeah. Totally." her tone is laced with sarcasm. "Like every other airhead girl in this school, I just _dream _of being Jace Lightwood's wife. And now I can!"

Okay, that was pretty funny. Carrot has her funny moments, I'll give you that.

My sister laughs loudly. She loves it when people make fun of me. I shoot her a glare and then turn the glare onto Clary. Gotta keep up that angry facade. "Fine." I spit. I grit my teeth together—ow, that hurts. Never mind. No more gritting. "Fine, I'll do the stupid project."

Hey, this project _is _pretty stupid. That wasn't a lie.

"Excellent." Graymark claps his hands together. "Now, I want all of you to sit by your partners so we can get everything else sorted out."

I'm out of my seat and in the one next to Carrot before I can blink. Any opportunity to get closer to Carrot to annoy her, I'll take. Unfortunately, in that speeding-across-the-room-like-a-vampire process, my hair manages to fall into my eyes. I blow it back.

I don't know _what _Clary thinks, but she tries very hard not to laugh as she looks up at Graymark, who has approached our desks. He's no longer amused. Damn.

"Fake marriage licenses," he tells us. I can see the annoyance in his eyes. "Underneath that is a fake annulment sheet"—what the _hell _is an annulment? Oh, well, I'll just Google it.—"which you only have to fill out if you wish—and then other papers for me, like where you'll be living and other stuff like that."

"So, Mr. Graymark." Carrot says casually. She smiles tightly and looks up at him. The annoyance in Graymark's eyes fades to fear. What the _hell? _"How about that football game on Saturday night, huh? Do you have any plans with friends to watch it?"

"Uh..." Graymark blanches. Wow. Carrot can be a real badass when she's angry. I bet she'd look amazing in leather, too. Wait, what?

"I would sure hope not." she raises her eyebrows. "You never know when something dangerous can happen to you."

Graymark all-but speeds away.

I whistle under my breath. "He's not going to give you a detention or anything for talking to him like that?"

"Nah." she says, flashing me a grin. "He's my parents' best friend. He's used to my demonic attitude." Oh, so even _she _admits she's a little devil. I should look up 'little devil' in Spanish and call her that from now on. "I bit him once."

"Oh, really?" Damn. There's that badass Carrot again. "What did he do to you?"

I wonder if she passed off my attitude as nervous, because what she says next nearly makes me jump out of my skin. "He called me Carrot."

I blanch. What? I can't help it! I would _prefer _not to be bitten by Carrot. Not that she'd get that close, anyway. Clary snickers loudly and turns back to the packet.

Oh, Morgenstern, it is _so _on.

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><p>"Jace!" Max all-but tackles me when I get home. "How was school today? Did you see Clary? How is she?"<p>

"Max." I groan. I knew I shouldn't have told him about Carrot. "It was fine, yes I saw her, and _she's _fine."

"Jace has to marry her." Isabelle comments with a snicker, shutting the door behind us.

Max's eyes widen. "You _do?"_

"It's for a project, kid," I inform him. "I'm not really gonna marry her."

I stick my leg out and Isabelle nearly trips over it. She curses under her breath.

"Oh." Max frowns. "Am I gonna meet her, then?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "She'll be here on Monday, and she'll be staying with us for two and a half months."

His frown deepens. "So...until mid-March?"

"Yup." I fix his glasses, which are askew on his face, like always. "Where's Mom?"

"She's in the kitchen. I think she made cookies, but she wouldn't let me in there until you two got home." Max pouts. He tugs on my arm. "So come on. I want my cookies."

"They're not _your cookies, _Max." But I let him drag me into the kitchen.

"Hi, honey." Mom smiles at me. "How was school?"

"Suckish." I say, reaching for a cookie on the plate. She doesn't slap my hand away. Score. "We're doing a stupid project in Graymark—"

"I know. I got an email." she gives me a grin. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Lucky? I hardly think she thinks of herself as _lucky_." I snort. "It's Clary Morgenstern."

"Jonathan Morgenstern's little sister?"

"I think so."

"Alec says Clary's a nice girl, from what he's heard of her from Jon." Mom hands me a glass of milk. Oh, that's right. Jonathan Morgenstern and Alec were best friends in high school. "Do you like her?"

"Quite the opposite, actually." Wonderful. Isabelle's made her entrance. She snags a cookie from the plate, smirks in my direction, and says, "They _hate _each other."

Mom's eyebrows furrow.

"What?" I grab another cookie. "The feeling's mutual. She hates me, I hate her."

"Jace thinks she's pretty." Max corrects.

I spit out the milk in my mouth and it sprays on Isabelle's shirt. "I _what?" _I exclaim loudly, while Isabelle whines, "Ew, _Jace!"_

"I never said I thought she was _pretty_, Max." I cough. My mother helpfully hands Isabelle a towel. "Where did you get that idea?"

"I read between the lines." Max states. Jeez, that kid is perceptive. Not that I think she's pretty. He's just smart. He acts older than he really is.

Mom only smiles. "Max, honey, why don't you get started on your homework? Maybe if you finish before dinner, Jace will watch a movie with you."

"Will you?" Max pleads me.

I can't say no to his stupid grey eyes. "Sure, kid," I say, giving him a smile. Max's eyes light up. "But only if you finish your homework."

Max speeds off.

"You know he loves you a lot, Jace." Mom tells me. "He looks up to you more than ever, now that Alec's in college. And he wants to spend as much time with you as he can before _you _go to college."

"I know, Mom." I grumble. She gives me this lecture at least once a day.

"He might ask you to sleep in his room tonight." Mom warns me. "Don't you _dare _turn him down."

"Mom! I know!" I get that she wants us to include Max, but he's almost ten years younger than we are and sometimes all we can _do _is watch movies. "I get it, okay? We won't leave him out."

"Don't do it when Clary's here, either."

Isabelle giggles.

I glare at her. "Hey, Mom, did Izzy tell you her partner?"

The smile on Isabelle's face drops. She's blushing. Good. Mom frowns. "No, she didn't. Who is it?"

"It's nobody." Isabelle grumbles.

I grin wider. "It's _Simon Lewis."_

Isabelle kicks my leg. "The boy you like, Izzy?" Mom's face lights up. "Oh, that's wonderful! You can tell him now!"

"I should really stop telling Mom who I have crushes on." Isabelle sighs under her breath, and then glares at me. "And I should really stop telling _you _who I have crushes on."

"It's obvious you like him, Isabelle, so there would be no point." I laugh into my glass of milk, downing the rest of it and grabbing two more cookies. "Well, I'm off to do my homework. See you at dinner. Thanks, Mom, for the cookies."

"No problem, honey." Mom's still smiling suggestively at Isabelle.

I'm still laughing as I leave the kitchen.

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><p><strong>That's chapter two! What did you all think? Do you prefer Clary's family or Jace's?<strong>

**(Also, I am currently writing chapter twenty eight of PM. It'll be up by tonight unless something pops up.)**


	3. three

**Author's Note: Hi!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

After my morning jog, I shower quickly and get dressed. Today is Monday; it's the first day of our psychology project.

When I get to the dining room, Isabelle is sitting in her chair, eating pancakes. Alec is chewing on a piece of toast. Max is eating cereal. I eat my breakfast before I jog, so I sit down in my chair and just watch them.

"That's creepy, Jace," complains Isabelle, catching my eye first. "What kind of person watches other people eat?"

"Freaks, that's who," says Alec, and shares a fist-bump with my twin sister.

I roll my eyes. "It runs in the family. Haven't you two noticed you're freaks as well?"

Isabelle makes a sour face. "You'll pay for that, Jace."

"How?" I taunt her.

"I'll sit by Clary today." she warns me. "I'll tell her all about your not-so-secret crush."

"I _do not _have a _crush _on her!" I protest.

"Whatever." Isabelle smiles at me. "We'll be late to school. Let's go."

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><p>It takes all I have not to laugh when Clary enters the psychology classroom on Monday and glares at me. Hey, I guess I deserve it—I <em>am <em>sitting on her desk.

Good morning, darling," I say to her. I hop off the desk and she places her things right where my butt had been. "I hope your weekend was well?" mine sure wasn't. It was filled of smart-mouthing Max and suggestive grins from my mother to Isabelle. Well, okay, the grins were funny.

"What do _you _want, Lightwood?" she grumbles. Are we back to last names?

"I'm just making conversation with my wife, that's all." After all, today marks the start of the project. "Because if we're uncivil to each other, what's the point of being married? Shouldn't we just get a divorce?"

Clary glares at me. "I'd like that."

"I'm _very _offended, dear." I take her hands and squeeze them and try not to laugh. She looks absolutely disgusted. Score. "We have to at least _try _and save this marriage before giving up on it."

"Don't touch me." she snarls, yanking her hands from mine. "And cut the crap, Lightwood. This project is going to be hell enough with you as my partner."

I keep my mouth all-but glued shut. She's definitely PMSing. I decide not to goad her any further, but after she leans back in her chair, looking clearly satisfied, I say, "Listen, Carrot—"

"Hi, Clary," says Isabelle. Just like she promised this morning, she sits down next to the redhead. Clary looks surprised. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. And you?" Clary speaks slowly. I try not to laugh.

"I'm great, thanks." Isabelle beams. "I have a question for you about Simon."

_Ah. _So there was her real motive. Not to give her some fake shit about me liking her. "Okay. What is it?"

Isabelle bites her lip. Well, I can't just sit here and not say anything, right? This can be retaliation for threatening to feed Clary some fake thing about me having a _crush_ on her. I laugh. "Izzy has a crush on your friend Simon."

Isabelle's eyes widen and she blushes darkly. I laugh again. "Is that true, Isabelle?" Clary bites her lip, stifling a smile.

"Er...Yes?" Isabelle squeaks. This time, Clary laughs too. "It's not _funny! _I'm being serious!"

"Trust me." Clary wheezes. "I don't find this funny."

"Then _why _are you _laughing?" _Isabelle whines. She looks mortified.

"Because Simon likes you, too." Clary clears her throat.

Oh. Plot twist.

"I assume that's what you were going to ask me?" Carrot continues. Isabelle nods. "Well, yeah, he likes you."

My eyes flicker to said boy as Simon walks into the class. He sits in his desk and says, "Morning, Clary." I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing again as Simon sees Isabelle sitting beside Isabelle. "Good morning, Isabelle," he adds. He blushes. I smirk.

Before I can mortify anyone else anymore, the rest of the class enters in a stampede. Isabelle speaks to Clary as the bell rings, but I don't care enough to listen.

"You'll have me, too!" says Isabelle brightly, her voice loudening. "Do you like shopping?"

Oh, jeez. I stifle my snort of laughter as Graymark enters the classroom.

"Good _morning!" _says the teacher. God, is he hyped up on coffee or something? It's illegal to be this peppy this early in the morning. That's rule number one in the book of rules I just made up. "Are you all ready to start this project today?"

Everyone groans—I included.

"On, come _on, _guys! It's going to be fun!" Jeez, someone _please _make coffee before noon illegal in this country. I am going to write a letter to the president about this. I can almost see the letter now: Dear Obama... "And it'll be over before you know it."

Damn you, Graymark. You interrupted my mind letter to Barack Obama.

"Is he on _drugs_?" Isabelle hisses to Clary. Clary coughs loudly.

Graymark glances at her. "Are you all right, Clary?"

"Abso-freaking-lutely," she responds sarcastically.

Graymark clears his throat. "Anyways. There are only a few rules to this project: one, you have to sleep in the same room. It doesn't have to be together in a bed or something, but just in the same room. Two: you _cannot _be separated from your partner without my permission. But you have to do normal things together: shopping, recreational sports, group events, et cetera..."

But I stop listening there. The rules are printed on a piece of paper from the packet on Friday, and I'm too tired to keep listening to Graymark go on and on.

Before I know it, the bell rings. Did I fall asleep? I can't remember. I grab my backpack and speed out of the room. And then I start counting down the hours until after school, when Carrot appears at my house and becomes glued to my side for the next five months.

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><p>When the doorbell rings, Isabelle squeals loudly; I can hear her all the way in my bedroom. Ever since Clary told her that Simon had a thing for my sister, she's been unnaturally happy. "I'll get it!" she yells loud enough, and then I hear the door open.<p>

Knowing Carrot and Simon, they probably came together. I sit up from my bed and put my homework back in my backpack. If I don't get down there soon, my mom will come up here and drag me down there.

"Hey, Jace?" Max knocks on my door and opens it before I can get to it. In this house, if we don't have guests over, any member of the family is entitled to any room unless Mom or Dad says something about it. "Can we go to the comic book store soon? I need new comics."

"I'm broke, kid." I put my hands up. "Ask Dad about it."

"Okay!" he says brightly. "I heard Isabelle talking to people. I'll go say hi to Clary for you."

Oh, jeez. Max speeds off in the direction of the kitchen, and I quickly follow. Does everyone in this family plan on giving Clary Morgenstern the wrong ideas?

I hear him speaking. "You're Clary, aren't you?" oh, dang. "I've heard a lot about you from Jace." Okay, not a _lot_. Stop with the hyperboles, kid. "I recognise you from your bright hair."

I snort. Okay, yeah. That was funny.

"He calls you Carrot, right?" Max continues.

"Er." says Clary. Ah, so she _is _here. "Right."

"Jace doesn't stop talking about you." Max continues. My eyes widen. "He—"

"Okay, kid," I say, stepping into the room. "Don't scare her off. That's enough." But to let him know I'm joking around, I ruffle his dark hair and reach for a piece of pizza. I glace at Clary. "Carrot," I greet her.

"Golden Boy," she says tightly.

"No arguing in my house." Isabelle insists. "We have enough of that already."

True that, sister. But I can't just _not _argue with Carrot. I roll my eyes. "We'll see about that, Iz. Carrot's too annoying for her own good."

"I think you're describing yourself there, Lightwood," grumbles Clary.

To my horror, my parents _laugh. _"It's not funny, you two." I complain.

My mother puts a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. "Of course it is, Jace. Your bickering is cute. You two act like an old married couple."

Now my whole family is on the marriage bandwagon! Lovely. "Maybe that's why Graymark put us together for this project." I say sarcastically, and then I glance at Clary. "Maybe _you _know why he put us together. After all, you're like his pet, aren't you?"

"I'm going to kick your stupid behind into next _year, _Lightwood." Clary snaps. Is she always this touchy? "And _yes, _I do know why he put us together. The project is our final—it's not supposed to be a breeze. If it were, I'd be paired with Simon and perfectly happy."

"Whatever." I snap. I think that's enough Carrot time for today. I grab another piece of pizza and exit the room.

It doesn't help that my entire _freaking _family is laughing. I can even hear Max's giggle.

Does my whole family hate me now or something? Are they taking Carrot's side over mine? I hate this project so much now. Before, it wasn't so bad, but if my parents are going to like Clary more than they like their own freaking _son_, I am going to make Clary's life a living hell.

Even if it's the last thing I do.

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><p><strong>So not only does Jace have internal Daddy issues in the books, he now has some internal family issues in my story! Yay!<strong>

**Chapter twenty nine for Project Marriage hasn't been started yet, but it might be updated by tonight. I'm not sure - so stay tuned.**


	4. four

**Author's Note: I'm having **_**so **_**much fun writing this fanfiction, lol.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

"Jace!" Max calls my name. He flings the door to my room open. "Will you watch _The Avengers _with me?"

"Again?" I sigh. We watch that movie once a week, at least.

"Please?" he pouts. "_Clary _said she'd watch it with me. Will you? With us? _Please?"_

Of course he'd pull the Clary card with me. "Fine, kid." I swing my legs off of the bed and stand up. "I'll be in the living room. You go get Clary."

"Yes!" declares Max with a wide smile. He throws his arms around me in a hug and then speeds off down the hallway.

I sigh and make my way into the living room, sitting down on the couch. The things I do for my little brother...

"Come _on!" _I hear Max yell from down the hallway. "We're watching _The Avengers; _I hope you don't mind."

"Are you allowed to watch that?" Clary demands from the hallway.

"He's allowed to watch anything he likes, as long as he's happy." I say as they walk in. Clary glances at me. The real reason is that since we're so much older than him, my parents will do anything to make him feel happy all the time. If that means that he gets to watch whatever he wants and eat whatever he wants, they're fine with it. As long as he doesn't feel sad. "He's asked me to join you two in watching it."

"Okay," she says, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

I smirk. "Don't worry, Morgenstern, I'll hold your hand if the blood and gore gets too gross for you."

She rolls her eyes. "Are you kidding? I love Marvel movies."

I raise my eyebrows. I didn't peg her as a Marvel kind of girl.

"Having one older brother and a dad who works from home will do that to you," she explains. And then she blushes deeply, like she didn't mean to give that piece of information away.

I quirk one eyebrow as she turns to face the television. Max starts the DVD player up and takes his seat between Carrot and I, giving us both wide smiles.

Every time he's seen this movie, it's like he's watching it for the first time. I watch as Max cheers and boos in all the right places, but he's not that interesting to watch.

But Clary is. Her eyes are glued to the screen just like Max's, but she actually _says _the lines as the actors in the movie do. She grins when Max cheers. My little brother is always the one to make everyone in a room happy.

"How many times have you _actually _seen this movie, Morgenstern?" I ask Clary over Max's head.

She shrugs. "I lost count after fifty."

Damn. I whistle. "I'd like to meet this Marvel-loving brother of yours."

"Oh, you will." Clary confirms. "He's coming home in a couple months."

"Is he as crazy as you are?" I tease her.

She makes a face at me. "Ha-ha. Jon's not crazy. He's cool."

I knew that. Alec and Jonathan always hung out here when they were in high school together.

"Shh!" Max hisses.

I hide my smile. "Who's your favourite, Carrot?"

"I'm not sure," she admits. "It was Iron Man for a really long time and then it was Thor and now it's kind of Captain America."

So, basically, everybody.

"Cla_ry_." Max whines. "This is the best _part."_

This time I can't contain it. I smile widely. "Yeah, Clary."

"I know where you live." she grumbles under her breath, and I smile again.

She and I both know it's an empty threat.

* * *

><p>It's halfway through the big battle scene when I notice that Max has stopped his cheering. I glance over—and he is asleep on Clary's arm. Maybe even drooling a little.<p>

What time is it? I pull out my phone and curse. It's nearly eleven. "Little sneak." I grumble. "It's _way _past his bedtime. No wonder he crashed."

"I can take him to his room, if you want." Clary offers.

That's not really a bad idea. "It's the second door on the right. You'll see it immediately—it's covered with Avengers stickers."

Clary lifts him up easily. "Jeez, does this kid eat anything?" she exclaims. "He's as light as a feather."

"He's all bones." I confirm. I look at my brother, fast asleep in Clary's arms. "Be careful with him, though," I add thoughtfully. "He breaks really easily."

My mom would be ashamed of me if I didn't thank Clary, so I glance up at her. "Thank you." I say.

"Yeah." she exhales. "No problem, Jace."

Her eyes are a really pretty shade of green—something I never noticed in the time after time we've argued. And her eyes are almond-shaped. They fit her face really well.

Clary's out of the room when I finally come to my senses. I blink. What was I just thinking about? There's no way I find _Clary Morgenstern _pretty. No way. I hate her. I don't find her _pretty. _

I wait a couple minutes, and then follow her out of the room. I'm just stopping outside of Max's bedroom door as she's shutting it. "Come on, wife of mine," I say. "It's bedtime."

She follows me into my bedroom. "You can sleep in the bed," I say. "I'll take the floor."

"That's not fair." she puts her hands on her hips. "It's your bed. You should sleep in it."

Oh, come _on, _Morgenstern. I'm trying to be nice here. But I smirk at her instead. "What kind of husband would I be if I made my darling wife sleep on the floor?" I tease her.

She grumbles, "A good one, if your wife _wants _to sleep on the floor. I'd rather not go to school tomorrow reeking of Jace Lightwood."

"Ouch." I joke, putting a hand on my chest. But really, I'm not taking no for an answer. She should accept my once-in-a-lifetime niceness. So I sigh, and say, "I'm trying to be a _gentleman _here, Morgenstern, and I can't really do that if you're being stubborn. I have no problem with sleeping on the floor—I've done it more than enough times already."

I add the last bit very softly as the memories of Max and I's floor-sleepovers flash through my mind. Why I added it in the first place I have no idea. I grab a pillow and blankets and lay them out on the floor.

"Jace..." she hesitates. It's the first time she's said my name without malice or given me a nickname or anything. It's kind of...nice.

Ugh! What is going _on _with my brain! "Just take the damn _bed, _Morgenstern. Don't make me tell you twice."

"I'm going to make you." Clary retorts. "I'm not sleeping in that bed and that's final. When we go to my house, I'll sleep in a bed, but for now it's _not fair."_

I hesitate. Wait, what? No way in _hell _am I letting Clary get her way! But if she won't do it consciously, then I'll have to do it for her when she's _un_conscious. I sigh. "Fine. Have it your way."

She blinks. "Really?"

I almost laugh. _No, _I answer her in my brain, but I don't say it out loud. Instead, I tell her, "Yes, really. Is your brain so small that you can't comprehend what I'm saying?"

She scowls at me. "Hey. Only _I'm _allowed to make small brain jokes."

"Whatever." I say. I climb into my bed. "Goodnight, Morgenstern."

Clary shuts off the lights. I should have done that. Oh, well. I hope she stumbles into something because she's so freaking stubborn. "Goodnight, Lightwood." she sighs.

I hear her breathing deepen, and to confirm that she's asleep, she starts snoring faintly. I climb out of my bed and gently lift her, placing her small frame in my bed and pulling the blankets over her.

When I finally fall asleep, it's to the sound of her faint snoring. It's kind of cute.

Wait. What?

Oh, jeez. I think Isabelle is poisoning me with fondness for Carrot or something. Help.

* * *

><p><strong>More Clace, aw. And is Jace starting to fall for Clary or is he just going crazy?<strong>

**(Thank you so much for getting over 100 reviews, guys. I love you all. & the Project Marriage update will be either late tonight or sometime tomorrow, because I've been busy today and I still _will _be busy today and I haven't had time to think of ideas for the chapter or to write it. However, I am taking requests over on Tumblr [link is in my profile or you can search me at thaliamgrace] for drabbles if you'd like me to whip something up!)**


	5. five

**Author's Note: Hi! How are you all?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

When I wake up in the morning, it's five exactly. I get up and change into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt, and then I hear Clary's gentle snoring again.

Right. I wouldn't want her thinking I was mysteriously dragged off and killed in the middle of the night, would I? Not like she'd care or anything. But I still grab a piece of paper from my desk and grab a pen, scribbling down a note for her.

_Carrot,_

_See, you can't win against me. So don't argue about taking the stupid bed again or we're going to have an issue._

Okay, I added that just because I'm _still _feeling cocky about being able to get her into my stupid bed. It serves her right for trying to argue with me.

_I'm out for a morning jog, but I'll be back at roughly six, so if you're not done in my bathroom by then I'm physically kicking you out of it._

I move to sign my name down, but then I realise that sounds like I'm going soft on her. I can't have that. My stupid boy hormones are already making me feel insane.

_I already put your shampoo and other girly things inside of the bathroom; don't worry about making yourself at home. I've got bleach to disinfect it when you're done anyway._

After reading it over, I bite my lip. Maybe that was a little mean, but I can't scratch it out now. I'm wasting time just by writing this stupid note. If I scratch it out, she'll still be able to read it if she looks hard enough, and if I write a whole new note, I'm wasting time on my jog. Screw it. We're supposed to hate each other anyway.

So I sign it with a smirk.

_Love your husband,_

_Jace Lightwood_

I fold it up and write _Carrot _on the outside of it, and then I place it quietly on the mattress next to Clary's hand.

And then I leave the room, grabbing my headphones.

* * *

><p>I love jogging more than basically anything. It wakes me up in the morning better than coffee ever has, and I just feel better after I jog. When I leave the house, it's still dark out, but when I return, the sun is beginning to rise.<p>

"Good morning, Jace!" my mother calls from the kitchen. She's probably making breakfast.

"Morning, Mom!" I call back, heading toward my bedroom. I set my phone in the charger to juice it up before school and check the time. Oh. I guess I didn't run for as long as I'd thought. Oh, well.

But I'm not in a rush. I decide to stand in front of the bathroom door with my arms crossed over my chest until Clary opens the door.

She opens it nearly a second after I stand in front of it. I grumble, "About damn _time_, Carrot."

She puts her hands on her hips after glancing at the clock. "You said you'd be back around six," she accuses.

Yeah, I did. I thought I would be. "Well, I lied."

"You're insufferable."

"Thanks." I grin at her mockingly. "That's my middle name, actually."

"Jace Insufferable Lightwood?"

"Yup." I say, popping the 'p'.

She rolls her eyes and pushes past me. "Bathroom's yours, then, Jace Insufferable Lightwood."

I grin again. "Thank you, Clary Carrot Morgenstern-Lightwood."

I see her skin pale and laugh loudly, shutting the bathroom door. I shower quickly and throw on some clean clothes. Clary's out of the room when I come back—she must be down at breakfast already. I grab my phone, my backpack, and tug on my shoes before making my way into the dining room.

"Speak of the devil!" I hear before I can see; Alec is waving cheerfully at me over Clary's red hair. "You missed all the _fun_, Jace! Clary nearly choked to death!"

"That would have been fun to watch." I agree.

Clary chokes out, "I think I'm full."

"We've only got five minutes until we have to leave." Simon stands up. Of course he'd go with her. "I'll wait with you by the car."

They leave. Isabelle snarls at us. "You two are so _stupid!"_

"What?" Alec blinks. "What did I do?"

"She's not mad at you. She's mad at me." I sigh, grabbing an apple from the table and a bottle of water.

"Why is she mad at you?"

"Because she thinks I'm a dick to Clary and she doesn't realise that this is what we _do _to each other." I roll my eyes.

Isabelle makes a noise in the back of her throat. "You didn't see her face, Jace! That stupid comment you made about it being fun to watch her choke hurt her!"

"I doubt it." I say. But did it? Sure, we hate each other, but I wouldn't want to hurt her that badly.

"She did kind of look like she was in pain." Alec agrees with Isabelle.

"Great." I snap at them. "Just take some _stranger's _side over your own goddamn _brother's_."

Isabelle's face softens. "Jace..."

"Forget it." I throw the water bottle into my backpack. "We're going to be late for school. Let's _go, _Isabelle. See you later, Alec."

"Bye, Jace," mumbles Alec. "Bye, Izzy."

"Bye, Alec." Isabelle says softly. She's still looking at me when we get into the garage, but I don't say anything. And I know she's not stupid enough to say anything in front of Clary.

* * *

><p>I don't pay attention in any of my classes, and quite frankly, I don't care. Isabelle tosses me the keys the minute we meet at her car. I don't normally drive her car, because she's so attached to it, but I can only guess she still feels bad about this morning.<p>

I wait for Clary and Simon, though. About five minutes later, the two make their way out of the building. When they're within earshot, I say, "Took you long enough."

Isabelle slaps my arm.

I get into the driver's seat and start her car.

"So there's an ice skating rink that opens on Friday." Isabelle turns around in the passenger seat to look at Clary and Simon. "And I think we should go."

"Er." Clary says.

Isabelle frowns.

"Clary can't ice skate." Simon informs us. "Actually, she can't do anything that involves her feet. Have you _seen _her in P.E.? It's not pretty."

Ah! Hear that, brain? Make a mental note to tease Clary mercilessly about her two left feet.

"I _can _ice skate." Clary argues. "But...only if I'm gripping the side of the rink. Or somebody. I can't do it by myself."

"We don't have to go." Isabelle says immediately.

"No." Clary insists. "It'll be fun. I think we should."

"Are you sure?" Simon inquires, hesitant.

"I'm not going to be known as the fun-killer, you two." Clary says hotly. "I think ice skating will be fun. Let's do it."

"Finally," I say sarcastically, "Carrot has a fun side."

Clary scowls at me. "Shut it, Golden Boy."

Isabelle gives me a pointed look, so I don't say anything. All I can think about is how stupid I was this morning and how much longer my siblings are going to prefer Clary over their own brother.

Maybe I really am a jerk.

* * *

><p><strong>Time to go add internal sibling issues on Jace's list of problems...<strong>

**(Chapter thirty of Project Marriage is currently in the works, guys. I promise. It'll be up soon, don't you worry!)**

**Can we get to 150 reviews? That'd be so amazing...**


	6. six

**Author's Note: Here's the ice skating chapter! We'll get to see Jace's thoughts on his little moment with Clary...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

This week has been utterly boring. Besides the food fight in the cafeteria this afternoon. The football team are absolute _geniuses._

Isabelle's too excited to drive today, so I take the keys from her again. "Did you remember to invite Alec and Magnus, Iz?" I ask her worriedly. Mom wanted Alec and his almost-boyfriend out of the house as much as possible. I swear, she's anti-gay. It hurts Alec, because he totally notices. And it really sucks to see him hurting.

Isabelle nods. "They're meeting us at home and then we're all going. We're taking my car, though, because only my car can hold all six of us."

Our plan _was _to take Alec's, but I guess that's not going to happen anymore. I park Isabelle's car in the garage, and the second we get inside, Max is waiting for us.

"Clary, can we watch another movie?" he begs her.

I watch as she bites her lip. Even _she _can't resist the puppy dog eyes. "I can't today."

"Why not?" Max's face falls.

"I've got other plans." her green eyes flash to my sister. Isabelle looks as pained as Clary does. Isabelle hates letting Max down.

Max sighs loudly. "Fine. Whatever. I knew you wouldn't anyway."

Ouch. "Max—" Isabelle starts, but Max doesn't listen. He turns around, and even I can see the hurt on his face. He looks absolutely destroyed.

And then suddenly, Isabelle and Clary both turn their gazes on me.

My eyes widen. I'm practically telepathic. "Uh, no way. If there's an uneven number, someone always gets left out and it's probably going to be Max—"

"No, it won't." Clary interrupts me. "I'll hang out with Max."

"I can't ask you to do that." I argue.

"For God's _sake_, Jace, just bring Max along." Isabelle hisses at me.

I roll my eyes. If Clary wants to hang out with Max, fine. That kid can be too much sometimes, but I love him to death. I call, "Max, c'mere. Do you want to go ice skating with us?"

Max turns, and his face lights up like a Christmas tree. "Can I?" he all-but gasps.

"Yeah." Isabelle smiles brightly at our brother.

Max flings himself at me and hugs me tightly. "Thank you thank you _thank _you!"

Oof. Ow. Okay. This kid could totally pack a punch if he tried. "Don't thank me, kid," I grunt, "thank Izzy and Clary."

So he does. He pulls Isabelle and Clary into a hug and then runs off to his room.

Oh. Did I just call her Clary out loud? Oh, well.

"Alec, Magnus!" calls Isabelle. "Are you two ready yet?"

"Yeah!" Alec calls back. He and Magnus come out from Alec's bedroom. "Clary, Simon, meet Magnus Bane." Alec introduces them. "Magnus, these are my siblings' friends, Clary Morgenstern and Simon Lewis."

"Clary's not my friend." I grumble. Did I just call her Clary again? Jeez.

"The feeling's mutual, Golden Boy." Clary hisses at me. She crosses her arms over her chest. Simon sighs and glances at her.

"It's nice to meet both of you." Magnus assures them, smiling.

"You too," says Simon. Clary nods at Magnus and smiles back.

"Max is coming with us, by the way," I say to Alec. "We're taking Izzy's car instead of yours."

"Oh, _sweet_." Alec grins. "I love Isabelle's car. We'll be waiting by it when you guys are ready."

Once Magnus and Alec are in the garage, Isabelle snorts. "They're probably going off to make out."

"Don't let Mom hear you." I warn her.

Isabelle rolls her eyes. "Mom doesn't _approve _of Alec's...'lifestyle', she calls it. I think it's stupid. She approves of _Aline and Helen _and they aren't even related to us."

That's true. "But if you ask Mom point-blank, she'll tell you that she's happy for Alec." I grumble. "But we all know she's not. It's kind of painful when Alec's in the house because Mom is super annoying about asking him about his love life. I _swear _she asks him if he has a girlfriend at least once a day and then uses the stupid memory excuse saying that she doesn't remember if she's asked him before." I almost wince at the memories.

"Wow." Clary frowns. "That's got to be a pain."

"It is." Isabelle sighs heavily. "We love Alec for who he is and so should Mom."

There have been times that I've heard Mom and Dad argue about Alec's sexuality. Dad's all for it—he's totally supportive. But Mom detests it. It's just not the way she was raised.

Max joins us in the room, and then we join Magnus and Alec by the car. The minute I see them, I know they didn't just wait. I glance at Alec suggestively, and Alec blushes like mad. I grin as I get in the car (because I guess I'm always the designated driver). It's nice to see my brother happy.

* * *

><p>"I'll go get skates for all of us," says Isabelle the minute we get inside the crowded rink. She disappears toward the shoes area in a flurry of black hair.<p>

"Will I get to skate?" Max asks Clary softly.

Like she's already a part of this family. I snort. "Of course you will, Max. We didn't bring you here just to watch us."

Clary glares at me with emerald eye. "Yes, Max, you'll get to skate."

"Will you skate with me?" Max begs her.

"Of course." Clary smiles back at him, but the smile is dropped the minute Max turns away from her. She punches me in the arm. "How can you be so rude to him?"

Well, maybe because he's treating you like his sister and just like everyone in this family he probably likes you more than me. And because I'm a dick to everyone. "I'm rude to everybody, Carrot," I say bitterly. I throw in a snort for good measure. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Yeah, I have noticed." Clary grumbles. She crosses her arms over her chest. "You know, I hope that an odd number does mean someone gets left out because it should be _you."_

"Here, Clary." Isabelle hands her a pair of skates. She heard everything. Great. Another reason for Isabelle to love Clary more. "Make sure those fit. I think they will, but I'm not sure."

The minute Clare sits down on the bench, Isabelle whirls on me. "I know you're feeling _jealous, _but could you please try and be a little nicer?" she demands. "You're stupid if you think we'll ever love Clary more than we love you, Jace. You're our _brother. _Alec and I like Clary a lot, sure, and maybe we will love her one day, but she will never take your place in our hearts. Okay?"

"Tell that to Max." I grumble, taking the skates from her hand.

"_Max is a little boy." _Isabelle hisses. "He gets left out too much. He's _lonely_, Jace. We don't hang out with him as much as we used to. He's paying a lot of attention to Simon, too, but that's because they're people he's never met before and he likes them a lot. You're one of his _favourite _people, Jace. Don't think otherwise."

She turns around to go sit down and place her own skates on. Maybe I have been a little harsher to Max and Clary than normal. As Izzy's words sink in, I realise that I may have been overreacting a little bit.

Alec catches my eye and gives me a smile. "Isabelle gave you the speech, didn't she?"

"Yeah." I smile slightly and pull off one of my shoes, bending down to lace a skate up. "She did."

"She's right, you know." Alec adds. "Everything she said is right."

"Yeah." I sigh. "I know."

And as Alec moves to talk with Magnus more, I realise that I _do _know that she's right. The jealousy fades away as soon as I realise this.

And it feels nice to not feel jealous of Clary.

* * *

><p>Clary is gripping the side of the rink. She wasn't kidding in the car on Monday. Max places his hands on his hips adamantly. I try not to laugh as I skate closer.<p>

"It's no fun to skate with you if all you do is hold onto the side of the rink." Max declares.

"He's right, you know." I say helpfully, stopping next to my brother. I smirk at her. "Plus, everyone's staring at you. That never helps."

"Shut _up, _Lightwood," Clary hisses at me.

"Please let go?" Max tugs on Clary's hand. "For me?"

"Fine." Clary sighs heavily, and Max grins widely.

It still feels nice to not be jealous anymore. "I'll hold onto this hand." Max tells her firmly, and then he looks at me. "Jace, hold her other hand."

I make a face. I may be softening up to Carrot slightly, but not _that _much. "Uh, no way, little bro."

Max glares at me. "_Jace. _Come on. She won't skate with me unless two people are holding her hands. Please?"

Clary looks absolutely terrified. He's right. She won't skate—and she _did _promise to hang out with him. I sigh heavily and reach for her right hand—it's warm, despite the coldness in the building. But it's basically glued to the rink edge. "Let go of it, Carrot." I grumble at her. "I'm making a promise to my brother that I intend to keep."

"How gallant of you." Clary replies sarcastically, but she lets me lift her hand. I grip it tightly—I did promise my brother, after all—and she grips mine tightly in return.

And it's kind of nice.

What? Gah! Isabelle's romantic thoughts have to get _out of my freaking head!_

"Okay." Max says, instructing Clary like he's her teacher. "Now push off with your left foot and you'll glide with your right. We'll all do it at the same time, okay? On three. One, two...three!"

I glide with ease, but Clary slips slightly. She grips my hand tighter. "I hate this." she complains.

"You're doing _great_." Max insists, smiling encouragingly at her. "Push off with your left and you'll glide with your right. One, two...three!"

Clary does as he asks, and she doesn't stumble this time. Her grip on my hand loosens slightly.

"Great!" my little brother grins at her. "Okay, I'm gonna let go of your hand now. Jace, you too."

"What?" Clary cries. She looks horrified again. "I'm not ready for this!"

Max shakes his head. "Sure you are. Push off on your left this time."

I let go of her hand, and so does Max, as she pushes off on her left.

And a second later she's falling.

I don't know _why_, but my hands shoot out and grip her waist firmly. My hands fit perfectly, and I try not to think of how close we are. How simple it could be if she falls again and lands on me. "Up you go, Carrot," I mutter in her ear, steadying her. I wait until she's no longer wobbling and she's standing upright until I let go, and for some odd reason I wish I hadn't.

What. Is. Happening. To. Me.

"Thanks." Clary mumbles. She's blushing deeply.

"O-kay." Max says slowly. He smiles at Clary sheepishly. "I think we're done skating."

"What?" Clary frowns. "No way! I'm just getting the hang of it."

"I think he's right." I admit. She turns to face me, so I immediately throw a smirk on my face. She rolls her eyes. "It's getting late, anyway. You spent nearly three hours on the ridge of that rink. Isabelle wants to leave." That was part of the reason I had stopped beside them, too.

"You just want to see me struggle to get off the rink." Clary grumbles.

"That I do." I beam. "We're wasting time arguing, Carrot. Let's go."

Max takes Clary's hand and tugs gently. I stay behind the both of them, my hands ready to catch Clary if she falls. Part of me wishes she would, just so I could catch her again.

Okay, I'm seriously going to freaking murder myself. I do not like her!

Inch by inch, Clary, Max, and I skate off the rink. The minute we get off, Clary takes off her skates and pulls on her sneakers. "Thanks for not letting me fall, by the way," remarks Clary casually. She doesn't look up at me.

I smirk. "You're welcome, Carrot."

I try not to think of how close I was to calling her Clary.

* * *

><p><strong>Jace is falling for her...Ooh...or is he?<strong>

**(Thank you all for getting to my goal of 150 reviews! Can we get to 180 this time, maybe? :D)**


	7. seven

**Author's Note: Hi!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

Throughout the week after ice skating, I find myself zeroing in on small traits that Clary has—her laugh, the way her nose wrinkles when someone says something she doesn't like, how her eyes shine nearly all the time.

And then I notice that none of those things happen around me.

I mean, _yeah, _we've always argued. I don't know what set it off, but we've always hated each other. And we've never really sat down to think what started it and why we're still doing it.

Thursday night, when I'm doing my homework in the living room, Simon enters.

"Hi," he says quietly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. Shoot." I say, placing my pencil on the table. It's probably about Clary.

"It's about Isabelle." his cheeks are a little pink.

Oh. Ew. Gross. I was willing to answer anything about his best friend, but about my sister? "Okay, dude, I'm going to stop you there." I make a face. "If you're having girl problems, don't come to the girl's _brother."_

"I can't very well go to Clary, can I?" Simon complains.

I sigh. This is absolute torture. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Does she like me?"

I groan out loud. "Is _that _what this is about? I thought we established that she likes you and you like her!"

"So she _does _like me." Simon's eyes widen.

"_Yes." _I grab my pencil again and poke his shoulder. "So go kiss her or ask her out or _something_."

"Okay. I-I will." he scrambles out of his seat. "Thanks, Jace."

"No problem, Simon." I sigh, turning back to my Calculus homework. So many numbers...

"You know," says Simon from the door. I glance up at him. "You're not so bad when you're being nice to people."

He leaves the room.

Could he be right? I imagine it in my head—never being rude to Clary Morgenstern, never bickering. Becoming her best friend, just like Simon, and now Isabelle. Maybe I would have even been Clary's boyfriend—all if I had been nice to her, and if she had been nice to me.

But I don't find myself _wanting _it.

* * *

><p>I go on a jog again the next morning—leaving half an hour early to think more. When I return, Clary is still in the bathroom, so I knock on it loud enough that she'll hear it.<p>

She opens the door and steps out. Her hair is frizzier than normal—but it looks nice.

What am I saying?

"Morning, Frizzy Carrot." I say to her cheerfully.

She rolls her emerald eyes at me. "My hair isn't that frizzy."

"It is compared to mine."

"Douche."

"Squirt." I retort. It's a valid nickname—she's nine inches shorter than I am.

"I hope you choke on your breakfast this morning." Clary grumbles.

"Ha-ha." I say sarcastically. "I already ate, so the joke's on you, Carrot."

And before she can say anything else, I step into the bathroom and shut the door.

Once again, my mind flashes to if I never hated Clary in the first place—and I see myself, with her, with her eyes sparkling and her laughing. The things she _could have _been doing around me if I'd never been a douchebag. Can I change myself? Be nice to Clary all the time?

But she won't be nice to me. So what's the point?

"You are such a douche!" I hear Isabelle complain. So a normal breakfast.

"Who's a douche?" I ask curiously as I enter the dining room.

"Alec is." Alec grins at me. "Isabelle and Simon are apparently a thing now."

Oh. So Simon took my advice. I shoot Simon a brief glance. "And apparently you talking about yourself in third person is a thing now, too." I take my seat. "What's up with that?"

"I don't know. I just did it."

That's Alec for you.

"So have you planned anything for us to do tonight? Seeing as it's Friday?" I glance at my sister.

"She's got something planned, all right. Just not for us." Clary grins suggestively at Isabelle and Simon.

I'm laughing so hard I think I could cry. I watch as Isabelle blushes deeply and laugh even harder.

"Let's just get to school." Isabelle grumbles to Simon, and they both get up.

She's probably going to leave us here if we don't go now. I check my phone—we've got about two minutes until we are _supposed _to leave.

"That was absolutely _golden, _Clary." my brother wheezes. He gives Clary a high-five.

"I think we should get out to the garage before Isabelle leaves without us, don't you, Clary?" I say, pocketing my phone and standing up.

I see the look on her face and almost curse. I just called her Clary to her face. She's going to know something is up. Crap.

But she doesn't say anything. She grabs her backpack after standing up, and we both walk to the garage. Isabelle's already in the front seat and the car is started. It's so like her to try and leave without us. I hop in the backseat and so does Clary.

"You know, Clary," says Isabelle in her sweet, I'll-so-get-you-back voice, smiling at Clary in the rear-view mirror. "Just wait until I can tease you and Jace about this stuff."

"Me and Carrot?" What's going on? Is she my conscience or something? "Izzy, you must be on drugs."

"That's what I said." Clary grumbles, placing her arms over her chest.

See? Even if I try to be nice to her from now on, there's no point. She's still going to hate me. So _fine. _If we're supposed to hate each other, then we'll hate each other. I can't do anything other than hate people, I guess.

"What? You two have a _lot _in common." Isabelle points out. "For example, you both think I'm on drugs."

"That's because you _are_." I tell her, but Clary has said the same thing as I did at the same time. Crap.

Isabelle's smile is smug. She's just proved her point. But, "Just you two wait," is what she says.

Can we stop talking about this? "There's no way in hell I'll ever like Carrot." I mumble, half to myself, looking out the window. I feel like I'm convincing _myself_, not Isabelle.

But Clary hears me. "The feeling's mutual," she snaps.

Ouch. Part of me wants to tell her I didn't mean it, and that I _do _want to be friends—but the other part of me feels just as hurt as she probably is. I don't like Clary. I _don't _like Clary. At all. She's annoying and she hates me.

So why do I feel hurt at her words?

* * *

><p><strong>So what is Jace thinking? Will he like Clary soon? Stay tuned to find out...<strong>

**(Hello! Thank you all _so much _for getting over my goal for reviews! We're nearly at 200 and that's super crazy! Thank you all _so _much. I was almost tempted to delete this story a couple chapters ago because I was afraid most people didn't like it, but now I can see that I was wrong. I love you all.)**


	8. eight

**Author's Note: So if anyone remembers chapter eight in Project Marriage, you'll be glad to know that this chapter is a good one for Jace...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

It is my plan to be friends with Clary.

Throughout today, I have been feeling weird. And after thinking about it, I've realised that it's because I'm still hurt at Clary's words this morning. And that I didn't mean what I said, because I think that I do like her in that way.

"Hi, Carrot." I say jovially in the parking lot after school. Clary stops walking and turns around to face me, and I can see the surprise on her face when she realises that it's me. Once I reach her, she begins walking again, and I stay at her side.

"Um, hi, Jace." she says. She bites her lip.

Okay, Lightwood, it's now or never. "I wanted to apologise." I say quickly.

Clary frowns at me.

"For in the car this morning," I explain, wringing my hands together. Jeez, I don't think I've ever been this nervous in front of a girl before. "I was being rude." Aren't I always? "I didn't..." no, don't start like that. "I wasn't..." Er. "I wasn't _trying _to be rude." I was just trying to totally throw you off because I may or may not like you in the way that my sister likes your best friend. "I'm...well, I'm kind of trying to work on that, actually."

I think my middle name has changed from Insufferable to Stutterer. "You are?" Clary gapes at me, and she stops walking, and so do I. But she backtracks, blushing slightly. "Er, I mean...it's okay. Really. And I...I didn't mean it either. I just said the feeling's mutual because..."

"It was the heat of the moment." I suggest. I think both of us have the middle name 'Stutterer.' I half-smile. "I get it."

"Yeah." her voice is soft. We keep walking at the same time. "So, um...if you don't mind me asking, what changed your mind? About trying not to be rude, I mean."

Because I'm kind of in-like with you? Is that a thing? "Oh." I bite my lip. "Um, it's just something I want to try and do. I realise I've been rude to everyone lately and I don't think it's fair."

"Oh." she smiles slightly at me. "Well, I, uh, think it's nice."

Oh! Duh. I'm forgetting the most important part. "And I'd like to try and be civil with you." I add, and internally cringe. Be _civil? _What is this, Victorian England? "If that's okay with you. I think...I think we should try and stop fighting. And try to be friends."

She takes a minute to respond, while I, like a teenage girl, am internally freaking out. "Okay." Clary finally says. "That sounds good."

"Good." I half-smile at her. I don't want to seem too eager. Oh, jeez, I really _am _a teenage girl. "Thanks, Ca—er, Clary." Yeah, stupid. First rule of trying to be Clary's friend is actually calling her by her real name.

"You're welcome." Clary blushes lightly again. "But, uh, we should probably get back to the car before Isabelle and Simon quarantine it."

Well, they probably already have. I laugh. "Yeah. Yeah, we should. Come on."

She follows me to Isabelle's car, where—surprisingly—my sister and Simon are waiting outside of. They're just holding hands. Good. I didn't want to have to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. Isabelle glances at Clary and then climbs in the backseat with Simon.

"O-kay." Clary says. She looks a little hesitant. "Guess I'm sitting in the passenger seat."

"Fine by me." I say with a shrug. We _are _trying to be friends, so maybe this is good.

We don't speak for a while after I start the car and pull out of the parking lot, but I'm itching to break the awkward silence. Plus, if Simon and Isabelle start lip-locking, I'll hear it, and I'd prefer not to puke until I'm done driving. "So since Izzy and Simon are probably doing their own thing tomorrow night, why don't you and I do something with Alec and Magnus?" I ask Clary. "We could bring Max along, if you want." So it's not something that seems an awful lot like a double-date with two couples that are...er, not dating.

"Max has a sleepover with Dru, Livvy, and Ty Blackthorn." Isabelle says from the backseat.

Gee, Isabelle, thank you for making it a double date with two couples that are not dating again. Much appreciated. Much sarcasm there, by the way.

"So you, me, Magnus, and Alec." I correct myself, and add in a soft smile.

"Alright." Clary agrees. "I've got nothing better to do. Other than homework, most likely."

I snort. "Of course you find homework better than us. It's because you're a nerd."

And then silence fills the car. Clary blinks, once, and then I realise that I might have just been rude. Out of the corner of her mouth, she opens her mouth.

"Oh." I say quickly, before she can say anything. "Er, um, that was sarcasm. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude."

My sister giggles from the backseat, and I don't even _want _to know why she did. "That's—that's okay." Clary bites her lip. "We're both a little rusty at being nice to each other."

I laugh dryly. "A little? Try extremely."

"Yeah." Clary uses that soft voice again. "Extremely rusty."

I smile, brightly this time, but not for very long. If I'd been told a month ago that I would be friends with Clary Morgenstern, I would have said that Hell would have to freeze over first. There has never been a moment that Clary Morgenstern and I have been friends.

Maybe Hell has really frozen over.

"I think Hell's frozen over." I say to her suddenly. Maybe she's thinking the same thing as I am.

"Oh?" she sounds casual. Too casual. She _was _probably thinking the same thing as me. "Why is that?"

"Because we're being friendly to each other." I say. Clary laughs. Her laugh is light, and it's enjoyable, and as soon as she stops laughing, I find myself wanting to say something funny to make her laugh again.

I pull into the garage and enter the house, and the only person behind me is Simon. "What's up with you and Clary?" he asks me curiously.

"I'm not really sure I know." I admit. "I just...decided to stop being rude to her. To everyone, actually."

"Well, I think I can speak for everyone when I say it's a good change." Simon confirms. He gives me a smile. "And thanks for the advice about Izzy."

"I don't want to hear about it." I groan. "She's my little sister. Don't make me regret giving you advice—or not punching you when I had the chance."

Simon gulps and scrambles off into the kitchen, while I laugh, throwing Isabelle's keys on the counter and bringing my backpack into the library, where I would most likely sit and do my homework for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>It's nearly eleven when I'm done reading books and doing homework in the library. When I make my way into my bedroom, the lights are still on, and Clary is asleep in a ball near the end of my bed. Her hand is curled around her cell phone.<p>

What happened? I can't even guess. I take in the tear streaks on her cheeks and sigh heavily, bending down. She isn't sleeping on the floor—not on my account.

I set her in the bed and gently pry her phone from her small hand. She makes a noise, but doesn't wake up. I place her phone on the nightstand, on top of her book, and pull the blankets over her. Then I turn off the lamp next to the bed and walk to the other side in the dark.

I don't know what happened with Clary, but if she decides to tell me, then I _will _be there for her. I am going to commit to this friendship thing. No matter what. I meant it when I said I wanted to try and be friends.

And I will keep my promise.

* * *

><p><strong>There's chapter eight! I told y'all that you'd like this chapter! And did you? I bet you did...<strong>

**(Can we get to 250 reviews?)**


	9. nine

**Author's Note: So the temperature just dropped very low between yesterday and today...**

**Also, part of chapter ten from Clary's POV is in this one. I put Clary and Luke's discussion in chapter ten of Project Marriage, but the discussion is in **_**this **_**chapter for this story. Just letting you know. This might be the only time I do that—normally my chapters cover the same data.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

When I wake up, it's five thirty. It's too late to go on a jog, but it's also too late to go back to sleep. So I stand up and grab another piece of paper out of my notebook to write a note for Clary.

_Clary,_

_I regret to inform you that your many attempts to sleep on the floor are not working. So stop trying. You may fall asleep on the floor, but you will always wake up in the bed so long as you live in my house._

I can almost see her rolling her eyes at that part, and I smile. And then—remembering last night—I add:

_I also hope that you're okay. You had tears dried on your cheeks last night. You don't have to tell me, because it's none of my business, but if you'd like to talk I'm willing to listen._

_I didn't jog this morning, but I went downstairs early. I'll see you for breakfast._

_Jace_

I fold the note up and, on the outside, I write _Clary. _I set it on the mattress, right next to her hand. Once I finish showering and getting dressed, I grab my backpack and exit the room, making sure to shut the door quietly on my way out so I don't wake Clary up.

"Good morning, lovebirds," I sing the minute I get downstairs. Isabelle glares at me and she immediately pulls her hand out of Simon's. "How's the lovely couple?"

"Shut it, Jace." Isabelle grumbles. Simon looks as mortified as she is.

I laugh and pour cereal into a bowl. "Hey, where's Alec?"

"He got home super late last night and left really early this morning." Isabelle tells me.

I make a face. "Mom issues?"

My sister sighs. "Yeah."

Mom's disapproval of Alec's sexuality gets worse and worse every day. It's why Alec and Magnus aren't together—or, if they are, they're keeping it a secret. I swear, one of these days Mom is just going to blow up at Alec, and it's not going to be pretty.

I eye Simon. "Has Clary talked to you in the past sixteen hours or so?"

Simon frowns. "Uh, no. Why? Is there something going on?"

I pour milk into my bowl of dry cereal and say, "I'm not sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Last night, I came into my bedroom after doing my homework." I sit down at the table. "And Clary was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, with her phone clutched tightly in her hand. She looked like she'd been crying."

And speaking of Clary—she enters the dining room, looking slightly upset about something.

"Clary?" Simon questions, frowning at his best friend. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Clary says unconvincingly. "Everything's fine. Why?"

"You just looked upset."

She smiles at Simon. "I'm not." she takes her seat. "Don't worry."

"Okay." Simon sighs as he bites into his toast on the plate. Clary pours herself a glass of orange juice but doesn't give herself any food. Strange.

Someone's phone buzzes.

"Huh." Simon frowns. He's looking at his phone screen. "That's weird, Clary; your mother is calling me."

Clary's eyes are wide as she says, "No!" I look at her curiously as Simon accepts the call.

"Hey, Mrs. M," he says cheerfully. The smile on his face fades into a frown. "What? Yeah, she's right here. Is everything okay?"

I look at Clary again. She looks mortified. What happened last night?

Simon looks at Clary too, his eyes wide. "Oh. I see. Well, yeah, Clary is absolutely fine. She's in one piece. Okay, Mrs. M. Alright. I'll tell her. Bye." Simon hangs up, places his phone in his pocket, and says to Clary, "Your mother says she's sorry."

"I don't care." Clary grumbles. She looks anywhere but at any of us.

"She must have done something pretty bad if you aren't forgiving her." Simon insists. "What happened?"

But then she finally looks at us. First at me, and then at my sister, and then she sighs. "My parents are getting a divorce because my mother cheated on my father with Luke, and Jonathan's not coming home until the summer."

"Clary..." Simon half-sighs.

Luke? "Luke as in our psychology teacher?" I ask her. Clary nods and I say, "Oh."

"You were really looking forward to Jonathan coming home early, too," says Simon quietly. He grabs Clary's hand and squeezes it comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

Something inside of me makes me wish that I could do that.

"So am I." Clary looks down again. "And I shouldn't even be this upset about it, but..."

"The promise." Simon finishes softly. Clary nods and bites her lip. "I understand, Clary."

I ask, "What promise?"

"When my father died, Clary cried just as hard as I did." Simon answers for her, which I don't mind. I shouldn't be this nosy, but I can't help it. "Jocelyn and Valentine promised Clary and Jonathan that their family would always be together."

"And now they're breaking their stupid promise." Clary grumbles under her breath. She sounds as hurt as she looks.

"We're going to be late for school," says Isabelle. Clary, Simon, and I all look up at her. "I'm sorry for interrupting and sounding inconsiderate," she adds hastily, "but we really are."

"I don't care." Clary says stubbornly. "If I go to psychology, I'll probably murder Luke."

I smile. "Come on, Clary," I say, standing up.

We all stand up. Isabelle and Simon lead the way to Isabelle's car, and Clary glances at me like she wants to say something—which she does.

"Will you sit next to me in psychology?" she mumbles. "I need someone to hold me back so I don't lunge at Luke."

"Sure." I say. "I will."

"I got your note." Clary adds thoughtfully. "And thanks for being willing to listen."

"I still am, you know." I remind her, and then I provide some comic relief into the situation; I smile dryly. "For better and for worse, remember?"

Clary punches my arm, and I can't help but laugh as we get into the car and drive to school.

* * *

><p>I sit next to Clary in psychology, just like I promised. Every second that goes by—closer to the bell ringing and Luke coming into the room—Clary's face gets more and more red.<p>

"Easy, Clary," I mumble to her, leaning close enough to her ear so only she can hear what I'm saying. "Your face is reddening."

"Distract me so I don't blow up, then, please." Clary says. Her teeth are gritting together.

Hmm. What to distract her with? Oh! I have an idea. But I don't know if she'll like it. I bite my lip. "How about we stay at my house for the whole project?"

She blinks and turns to face me. "What?"

My heart is pounding, but I casually shrug. "My parents wouldn't mind it, and that way you don't have to go home to...whatever home is. Plus, Max would love having you around longer." And so would I.

"Sure." Clary smiles at me. "That sounds good."

I smile back. "Great."

But my smile fades as the bell rings. I glance at Clary worriedly and I take a deep breath when I hear Graymark's familiar footsteps. My hands twitch. Is she serious about me holding her back? She won't go that crazy, will she?

Graymark grumbles, "Free period," under his breath. He sits at his desk.

I frown and so does Clary. Does this mean I won't have to restrain Clary? Will Graymark even talk to her at all?

But a minute later Graymark stands up and is in front of Clary's seat. "Can we talk?" he asks her, his voice low.

I'm afraid she'll blow up at him, so my hand slides closer to her.

"Only if Jace comes." Clary leans back in her chair. Wow. She isn't blowing up yet. That's a good sign.

Graymark grimaces. Or grins. I can't tell which one. "I told you I had a reason for putting you two together—" he begins smugly.

"I am so close to killing you with my bare hands." Clary interrupts. Graymark's smile fades. I twitch again, ready to grab her if she starts yelling. The last thing we need is a scene. "So either Jace comes with us or I'm not talking to you."

Graymark looks at me and says, "Fine. Out in the hallway, then."

I follow Clary to the door, and step outside with her. I glance at her, but I don't think she sees it. She's too focused on watching Graymark, who shuts the classroom door, and then Clary demands, "How long has this been going on? You and Mom?"

Graymark sighs and hesitates, but he looks Clary in the eye when he says, "Nearly a year."

_Holy crap. _A year? Clary's mom has been cheating on her dad for a year? With Luke Graymark? I almost want to reach out and take Clary's hand in mine for comfort when I see them shaking, but I don't.

"Why?" she asks. "Did you start it? Did she?"

"It was after that extremely large fight your parents had." Graymark looks at me again. Sorry, teach, but Clary wants me here and I will be wherever she wants me. "Your mother showed up on my doorstep in tears. She spent the night on the couch, and asked me if she could stay another night. The third night she was with me, she told me what happened. I don't remember how, but we just..." Graymark clears his throat. "You don't need the details." No, we do not. "But that's when it happened."

"Why didn't she get a divorce with my father after that fight, then?" Clary's voice trembles.

Graymark answers gently. "The promise."

I've been hearing a lot about that promise recently, and I can only think that it was what tore Clary's family apart, not the divorce. "I have one last thing to say." Clary crosses her arms over her chest. "Jace and I are not staying at my house for the last half of the project."

Graymark nods tightly and all-but yanks open the classroom door. Once Clary and I are inside the classroom, I say, "You didn't freak out. Good job."

"Hey, Jace?" Clary's voice is a whisper. "Have you ever ditched class?"

I blink. That was the last thing I expected her to say. "All the time when I was a junior. Why?"

"Would you be opposed to doing it again?" she bites down on her lower lip. "I don't think I can stay in school all day today."

Clary Morgenstern is just _full _of surprises today! I grin widely at her. "No," I say. "I would not be opposed to doing it again. Why, _Clary Morgenstern_, are you implying that we are ditching school after this class?"

Clary grins back at me. The sparkle is in her eyes—like it almost always is around me now. "I think I am."

* * *

><p><strong>So? What'd you all think?<strong>

**(Ahhh you guys got over my goal yet again! Can we get to 290 reviews? Maybe?)**


	10. ten

**Author's Note: So this will be a good chapter for Clace, because at the end of chapter ten in Clary's POV there's a moment between the two of them and it's definitely better in Jace's point of view.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

Clary bites her lip. "Jace, I don't know if we should do this..."

Oh, come on! She isn't bailing on me now. "Why not? All they'll do is call my parents and I'll go ahead and call my dad and let him know you fainted and I took you home or something." I shrug. Details later. Action now.

"Then shouldn't we be going to the nurse?" Clary looks at me pointedly.

I sigh. "Well, if you want to do this with all of the _theatrics _involved, then fine." I swing my backpack onto my back and make sure it won't fall, and then I say to her, "Swoon."

"Um." Clary looks confused. "What?"

"Swoon." I repeat. "You know—collapse, lose consciousness, black out, faint..."

"Why?"

"Because we're doing this with _all _of the theatrics, remember?" I roll my eyes. "Just collapse and look pale. That shouldn't be too hard. I'll catch you, I promise."

"Uh..." Clary raises her eyebrows at me. "Okay." she shuts her eyes and seconds later she's falling. Some of the girls—and the art teacher, Mrs. Lovelace—gasp as I pull Clary into my arms and lift her up. She looks pale. Perfect.

"I'll take her to the nurse, Mrs. Lovelace, don't you worry." I call to her, and Mrs. Lovelace nods at me with a smile. The more we walk to the nurse, the more Clary tries to look sick—and now—"Ease up on the expression, Clary," I mutter in her ear. "You look constipated."

Clary punches my chest.

"Ow!" That girl can pack a punch. "You're supposed to be unconscious—or at least, too weak to hurt people."

"Oops." Clay says innocently, and I laugh as I swing open the door to the nurse's office.

"Mrs. Herondale?" I call.

"Yes, yes, I'm here," answers the nurse immediately. She hurries into the room and her eyes widen. "Is that Clary?"

Yes. Who else in this school has that hair? "She fainted in the hallway." I say.

"I'll call her parents." Mrs. Herondale reassures.

Her hands are almost on her phone when I say, "You see, Mrs. Herondale, we're doing a project in psychology, and Clary's my partner, and she's staying at my house, and..." Come _on_, Jace, think! "She hasn't eaten anything today, and I think that's why she fainted." Yes! Score! Mrs. Herondale's expression morphs. "We couldn't get her to eat breakfast this morning," I add quickly. "I'll take her home and make sure she eats. But I don't think we need to call her parents."

Mrs. Herondale still doesn't look like she wants to listen to me, but she says, "Fine. But make sure she eats."

I nod at her and carry Clary out of the nurse's office. She opens her eyes when we get into the parking lot and she grumbles, "You can put me down now, Golden Boy."

Are we back to nicknames? At least she said it fondly. "No _way_, Carrot." I laugh. "All the theatrics, remember?"

"Just hurry up and get into the car."

_The car. _"Oh, crap."

"What?"

"Simon and Isabelle."

"What about them?"

"They won't have a ride. And if Isabelle finds out we ditched, she'll tell Mom and Dad and then I'll go to hell." I groan out loud just imagining Isabelle telling on us. There's no doubt that she would.

"Oh." Clary bites her lip. "Well, we'll just come back at the end of the day and be inside when they come. They won't even know we ditched—and they'll have a ride."

Clary _freaking _Morgenstern, you are a genius. "That's a good idea," I say as I put her in the car. I get into my seat on the other side. "So, Miss I-Just-Ditched-For-The-First-Time, what do you want to do today?"

Just as I expected, she was idealess. "Uh..."

Her phone buzzes, and she takes a minute to check it as I pull out of the parking lot. But once we reach the main road, I look over at her, and she looks as heartbroken as she did last night on the floor, fast asleep.

"Hey." I say softly. "You okay?"

I know I should keep my eyes on the road but I don't care. Clary looks up at me and for a minute I think she's going to tell me the truth, but then she says dryly, "Keep your eyes on the road, Jace."

I roll my eyes but I don't argue. A car crash would be the last thing we need right now. "I'm fine." Clary adds. She takes a minute to add, "And I know what I want to do today."

* * *

><p>"Okay, so...popcorn?" I ask.<p>

"Check." Clary says absent-mindedly.

"Candy?"

"Check."

"Movies?"

"Check."

I grin. "Sweet. This may have been the best thing you could have suggested, Clary."

She laughs. "I know. But there's an issue of what order we are watching them in."

Um, the normal order? "I just watch them in order of when they were released."

"Okay." Clary shrugs. "Oh, but we're not watching _The Incredible Hulk."_

Ex_cuse _me? That's like my favourite! "What?! Why not?"

"Because Mark Ruffalo doesn't even _play _him in the movie and because I've never actually liked the Hulk too much." Clary crosses her arms over her chest. "We know the story anyway. And since _I _came up with this plan of a Marvel movie marathon, I get to decide what movies we watch and don't watch."

Well, we're watching them at my house, so I get a say _too_. "Fine, Bossy Pants." I grumble. Wait, what? What happened to arguing? Stupid brain! "We'll start with the first _Iron Man_, then?"

Clary grins at me. "You got it."

* * *

><p>We whiz through the first <em>Iron Man <em>and the second, and then we move straight on to _Thor. _By the time _Thor _is finished, I'm putting it away in the DVD case, and Clary says, "Um, Jace?"

"Hmm?" I look over at her.

"Unless my phone's on drugs or something, it's three o'clock."

Oh, _shit. _"Isabelle and Simon." I groan. "_Damn _it."

"We'll use my sick excuse." Clary suggests helpfully. "That I fainted."

"Then we'd have to explain why we've been watching Marvel Movies for the past six hours." I point out.

Isabelle barges into the room a minute later. She looks pissed—but that fades when she actually _looks _at us. What?

"Clary fainted in the hallway." I blurt out. "I took her home, but, uh..." _Think! _"She refused to eat anything unless we watched Marvel movies."

Clary glances at me as Isabelle raises an eyebrow. "Well, Clary," says my sister, "I hope you feel better." she smiles lightly. "And I guess I'll tell Alec and Magnus you two wanted a rain check?"

"Thanks, Isabelle." Clary mumbles. Her cheeks are pink.

Isabelle shuts the doors. "Nice stumbling over our excuse, Golden Boy," says Clary, turning toward me.

I glare back at her. "Well, you weren't helping! You were just gaping at her like a fish!"

"The important thing is that she didn't care." Clary decides.

"Yeah." I say. "So—_Captain America?"_

"_Captain America._" she agrees.

* * *

><p>"I totally think the first <em>Captain America <em>isn't as good as any of the others." I stand up to switch the DVD to _The Avengers._

"It's about World War II." Clary shrugs. "And since it's supposed to _be _in the forties, the technology and everything can't be as cool and recent as it is in the other movies. But I definitely like _The Winter Solider; _it's one of my favourites."

"You've said that after each and every one of these movies." I snort, taking my seat on the couch.

"So?" she demands. "It's the truth."

Yeah, whatever. "Please don't quote this movie again. It's distracting."

"Rude." Clary grumbles. I laugh. "But fine. I won't."

By the time we finish _The Avengers_—with no quoting from Clary, thank _goodness—_she and I both agree to take a break. Clary makes more popcorn; I use the bathroom and say hi to my mom. _Iron Man 3 _is inside the DVD player when Clary comes back with fresh bowls of popcorn. And about an hour into the movie, Mom brings us a box of pizza.

"Sweet." I grin. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

"No problem, dear." Maryse smiles. She turns towards Clary. "Isabelle told me you fainted during school today. Are you okay?"

I grab a slice of pizza and try to muffle my laugh, but it doesn't work. Clary kicks me. "Yes, Maryse. I'm fine; thank you."

My mom leaves and I complain, "You have bony feet."

"Thanks." Clary says sarcastically. "Play the movie."

Pizza and popcorn is the _best _combination to have during a movie marathon. Literally. I love pizza so much. I wish it was a person so I could take it to Vegas and marry it.

It's past seven by the time _Iron Man 3 _ends. I put in _Thor: The Dark World _a minute later and sit next to Clary again, saying, "I think this villain is messed up. He confused me when I first saw this movie. And how do they come up with this language that he speaks?"

"It's Elvish." Clary says. "I think Stan Lee made it up in his own comics or something. But I think it's cool that they speak an invented language."

Hmm. I'll have to ask Max about that one.

"It'd be awful to memorise for the movie." I say.

"True." Clary agrees. "And I really like what they did with Chris Hemsworth's style. Like his _hair. _I hated it in the first one and in _The Avengers. _I like the extensions and the braids and all of that."

"Of course you would like his hair."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clary demands.

I grin. "Nothing, nothing."

* * *

><p>I feel like a nerd during the credits of the movie when I say, "In the post-credit scene, did you know that Chris Hemsworth's wife stood in for Natalie Portman because of scheduling issues? So if you look closely, you can tell it isn't Natalie."<p>

"Really?" Clary blinks. "That's strange. But cool."

"Yeah." I agree. By the time the scene passes, it's nine-thirty, and I tell Clary that.

"We've only got one more movie to go." Clary waves her hand. "Put it in."

I smile slightly. "Okay." I say. "_The Winter Soldier _it is."

When I sit back down, I think I sit too close to Clary. Oops. Maybe that's why I feel a little uncomfortable. She glances at me as the movie starts, but neither of us says anything.

I can see her eyelids fluttering throughout the movie. Since when has Clary Morgenstern never been a late-night person? I thought she was.

And when her head falls on my shoulder, I let it stay there.

"Clary?" I whisper. "Are you awake?"

She doesn't answer, so I take that as a no. I pause the movie with the remote and lift her up, still surprised at how light she is. Her head stays on my shoulder as I carry her into my bedroom.

I set her on the bed. "Goodnight, Clary." I say quietly, pulling the blankets over her.

And then I don't know _what _compels me to do so, but I lean over and kiss her temple lightly. Some of her hair brushes against my nose—it smells like strawberries.

I pull away. "'Night, Golden Boy," she mumbles, and I can't help but laugh as I turn off the lights and leave the room to go finish _The Winter Soldier._

But as I walk back to the living room, I realise something. I don't know if I'd acknowledged it before, but I am now: I have a crush on Clary Morgenstern.

* * *

><p><strong>Ahhh! He's accepted it!<strong>

**(and we got over my goal! you guys! ahhhh! can we possibly get to 340 reviews for this chapter? :D)**


	11. eleven

**Author's Note: Sometimes pretyping chapters has its downsides, because I don't know what to put for author's notes...**

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><p><strong>Chapter Eleven<strong>

"How am I supposed to know what comic books he likes?" I demand. "Just grab a few random ones and hurry back here!"

Do I sound protective? Dang. That's what really sucks when you finally realise you like someone. You have to make sure it sounds like you _don't _like them.

"Just go into his room and look at the ones he has, Jace!" Clary says over the phone. "It's not that hard."

It's the last day of February, and also Max's birthday. And I may or may not have told Clary that today was his birthday...well, today.

"That requires getting up, and that is something I am _not _willing to do." I say, tossing the baseball up in the air and catching it with ease. "Look, Clary—the weather says there's supposed to be a snowstorm coming, and Mom's freaking out that you aren't back."

In that sentence, Mom is an alias for me. As in, _I'm _freaking out that she's not back because there really is a storm coming. Oh, great, I really am whipped.

"Well, _I'm _freaking out because you decided to tell me that Max's birthday is the twenty-eighth of February _on the twenty-eighth of February!" _snaps Clary. "Does Max have any X-Men comics?"

"No. So buy those and _hurry up." _I groan out loud. "Mom's seriously freaking out here, Clary. If she kills us all because of you, I'm _so _blaming you."

"Thanks." Clary says dryly. "It's not my fault I wanted to buy something for my favourite member of the Lightwood family."

"Ha-ha." I speak with sarcasm. "If you aren't back in ten minutes, you are _so _dead."

And then I hang up.

Ugh. Was that last sentence too forward? Maybe she knows I like her now. Having a crush on someone you live with because of a stupid psychology project is _so hard._

I stare at Max's wrapped gift on my dresser and then haul myself to my feet, grabbing it. Mom told us to meet in the living room, and that we would open gifts once everyone was here.

Magnus is just leaving as I exit my room, so I give him a quick goodbye. Mom still isn't approving of Alec and Magnus, who she totally suspects are now dating. It really sucks, because Magnus can't be around, and Alec can't be happy.

I make my way into the living room and place my present to Max on top of the coffee table. And then I exit the room and go to the front foyer to wait for Clary.

"What'd you get him?" Isabelle asks me as I pass her in the hallway.

"A photo." I answer. "You?"

"Iron Man helmet." Isabelle replies.

"Cool." I say. "He'll love that."

"I'm sure he'll love your photo." Isabelle tells me.

I smile lightly. "I know he will."

"Tell Clary we're all in the living room." my sister calls over her shoulder as we walk past each other.

I check my phone; it's been nine minutes. Just as I put it away, Clary opens the door and steps inside. There's snow in her hair. It's pretty. "Nine minutes and _fifty-seven _seconds, Carrot." I tell her, just for kicks. "You just got here."

"You weren't going to do anything to me even if I _was _late." Clary says confidently.

I raise my eyebrows at her. "So what comics did you get?"

"A few X-Men ones." she says casually. "Issues one through five."

"_Five?" _ I whistle. "Max is going to want to marry you after getting those from you. I might be jealous. I think he likes you more than he likes me."

"I think he's liked me more for a while." Clary teases.

"I think so too." I grumble. But I'm not jealous. Not anymore.

Clary places the comic books inside of the gift bag. "Where's the family?"

"Living room." I point down the hall. "Alec's here, too, by the way. Alec will be glad to see you."

"Speaking of older brothers, do you think Luke's allowing us a one-week break for spring break?" she walks with me down the hallway. "Jon asked me to visit him over in Michigan."

"Well," I say, "I think Graymark will let you do whatever you want."

Clary laughs. "Good point," she says.

As soon as I open the living room door, Max says, "Hi, Clary!"

"Hey, Max!" Clary grins back. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." Max grins. He waves at me—I wave back—and then he turns to Mom. "So now that everyone's here, can we open gifts?"

I crack a smile.

"Sure, dear," says Mom with a sigh.

"Mine first." Alec insists. I can even see him less happy without Magnus here as he hands the gift to Max. "Well, it's from me and Magnus, actually."

Mom makes a face that's gone as soon as it's there.

Max unwraps the gift, and just like Alec had told me last week, it's the first three X-Men movies. "Sweet!" says Max. "I am going to stay up late and watch all of these tonight."

"Oh, no you're not." Mom grumbles. I smile again. Determined little kid.

"Can I open yours, Clary?" Max asks her, wide-eyed.

Clary hands Max her bag. "Sure. If you liked Alec's, I think you'll like mine."

And just like I predicted, Max looks absolutely psyched at his gift. "Clary!" Max exclaims. "How did you know I wanted new comics? And X-Men comics?"

"It was just a guess." Clary admits. "I'm glad you like them, Max."

"I _love _them." Max corrects. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Clary says. She smiles warmly.

My parents and Isabelle and Simon all get Max what they had talked about earlier this week—action figures and an Iron Man helmet. I'm nearly zoning out when Clary asks, "So what did you get your little brother, huh?"

She's looking at me. I smile. "Max told me a while ago, when we went ice skating, that he wanted to remember that moment forever, because he felt really happy that he could teach you to skate. So I asked Magnus for a little something..."

And Max is opening my gift as I trail off. I grin even wider as he stares at it. The Avengers stickers were a nice touch, I think.

It's from when Max and I were with Clary on the ice, teaching her how to skate. It's from the first time I ever considered liking Clary Morgenstern. It's from the first time Max felt like he meant something, because he was able to help someone do something. That moment was a lot of firsts.

"Oh my gosh." my little brother looks up at me. "You actually remembered."

I grin even wider. "Of course I did, Max. Happy birthday."

"I'm gonna go put this next to my bed." Max says, grinning at me and standing up. He's out of the living room in seconds.

"That was really nice of you." Clary looks up at me. "Though putting my horrified face in that picture was not."

I laugh, and all I can think of to say is, "Max really loves you, you know that?"

"Well, I love him too." Clary smiles. "You've got a great family, Golden Boy."

"Thanks." I say. I can't say the same about her family because I haven't met any of them. But...and then I blink, trying to figure out how to ask her. "And hey, I was thinking about your spring break thing...and I was wondering if maybe I could come with?"

She blinks. "Oh."

"I want to meet your brother." I say hurriedly. "I don't think my mom would mind. If you just want to be alone with your brother, I understand."

"No." Clary says. "I think it's a good idea. I'll call Jon and talk to him about it, but I don't think he'll mind."

"Really?" I can't help but grin. "Cool. Thank you."

"Of course." Clary grins back.

So I might be going to a completely different state with the girl I have a crush on.

What did I just get myself into?

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, Jace...<strong>

**(We reached our goal yet again! This all means so much to me, guys. Can we get to 380 this time?)**


	12. twelve

**Author's Note: Hello! How are you all?**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twelve<strong>

"Jace?" my mother calls from the hallway. I'm in the library, getting my homework finished. "Get Clary and meet us in the living room. The snowstorm hit hard—we're snowed in, and the city's in a state of emergency. I want all of us in the same room."

"Okay, Mom!" I call back, shoving my Spanish homework into my backpack. I leave the library quickly, leaving my backpack behind. We'll most likely have a snow day—I don't need to finish my homework now.

"Jace!" Alec says breathlessly from behind me. I turn around and find my older brother wide-eyed. "I need your help."

"With _what?_" I look at him incredulously. "And why are you so out-of-breath?"

"Magnus stopped by." he looks unhappy now.

I smirk. "_Oh. _So that's why you're out of breath."

"What?" my brother's eyes widen again. "No! Jace, gah! That's not why—okay, look. I've been looking for you. I need your help," he repeats.

"Okay." I say slowly. "Why and what for?"

"Magnus forgot his phone here earlier, so he came back to get it, and now Mom is threatening to kick Magnus out into the storm." Alec says, wringing his hands. "I need you to distract Mom so she won't do that. Or get mad."

"Alec, she'll be fine if you don't hang around Magnus." I remind him. "Play a board game with Max, or something, and ask Mom and Dad if they want to join. Ask Izzy."

"Will you play?" Alec pleads me.

I hesitate. "I was going to hang out with Clary..."

"Please? You and Clary can play?"

"Alright." I take a deep breath. "I'll play with you guys once we get in there."

"Sweet." Alec looks relieved. "Thank you, Jace, really."

"Just go start playing your board game." I say. But I smile at my brother. I can tell how much Magnus means to him—and how important it is that Mom approves. Which she won't. Not anytime soon, anyway.

Alec speeds off down the hallway.

Once I reach my bedroom, the door's open. Clary is sitting on my bed, biting her lip in concentration as she works on the English homework I can only assume is the Shakespearean language unit. I _hate _that unit. I knock on the door. "Hey," I say softly.

Clary looks up. "Hi." she moves her papers off her lap. "What's up?"

"Mom wants us all in the living room." I inform her. "That storm I told you about really picked up after you got here. We're all snowed in—the whole city's in a state of emergency."

She blinks. "Jeez."

"I know." I crack a smile. "But come on. We'll have fun with my family, I promise."

Clary slides off my bed and walks toward me. "I don't need your reassurance, Golden Boy," she says to me. "I _love _your family."

Of course she does. I roll my eyes at her. "Oh, and by the way—I'll need your help with distracting my mom."

"Why?" she frowns.

"Magnus stopped by because he left his phone here, but the storm kept him in. He can't go anywhere and Mom's upset, like usual." I sigh. "But on the bright side, we probably won't have school tomorrow."

"Sweet." Clary grins as she opens the living room door. "I love snow days. It'll just suck when we have to make them up later, though."

Yeah, but... "Well, if the city's in a state of emergency and nobody's allowed on the roads, they can't count it." my grin widens.

"Of course you would know that." Clary snorts. When I enter the room, Mom and Dad are playing a board game with Max, and so are Alec and Isabelle.

Alec looks up when we enter and waves at the girl beside me. "Hey, Clary," he says.

"Hi." Clary smiles back at him. She takes a seat next to Simon on the couch and Alec beckons me over.

"What are we playing?" I ask the minute I get over to my family.

"Life." Max says happily. "We just started, but we can add you in if you want."

"Sure." I say. I take a seat between Alec and Isabelle and Max grins at me, handing me the only car left—the blue coloured one.

As we play, I realise that this is the first time since the project started that we've done something together as a family. I glance at Clary—she's wrapped up in her own little world with her best friend, with Simon—and smile. She hasn't spoken to Simon much since the project started. Isabelle had told me once that Simon missed Clary, and it was easy to see that Clary had missed Simon, too.

"You like her." Isabelle realises, her voice low in my ear. I glance at her, and she grins. "You really, really, like her."

There's no point in denying it. "Yeah." I say, my voice a whisper. "I do."

"Oh, Jace," says my sister, her eyes sparkling. "You haven't liked a girl in for_ever_."

"Yeah." I say, and then add dryly, "And it just had to be Carrot, didn't it?"

She whacks my arm. "Don't be rude."

"I'm not being rude." I complain. "Carrot's my nickname for her. It's the colour of her hair."

"That is _so _rude."

"I happen to _like _the colour of her hair, thank you very much."

Isabelle giggles under her breath. "Jace, I'm just really happy for you."

"Thanks, Iz." I look at her. "I'm happy for you too, you know. With Simon. You've liked him for ages."

"I know." Isabelle sighs. "He's the first boy I've ever been nervous around. I really, _really _like him, Jace."

I smile. "And I really, _really _like the sound of 'Uncle Jace.'"

Isabelle whacks my arm again, but we both laugh as Max takes the lead in the game.

* * *

><p>We spend hours in the living room, playing game after game of Life. Simon and Clary stay close to each other, and somewhere in the middle, Max invites Magnus to play. Alec looks absolutely happy, because Mom doesn't even hesitate to let Magnus sit between her and Alec. Real progress is made.<p>

By the time eleven rolls around, Mom decides we can go back to our rooms to sleep. Magnus goes to a guest room, Alec to his own, Isabelle and Simon to Isabelle's, Max to his own, Mom and Dad to theirs, and Clary and I to mine.

"I seriously think you should start sleeping in the bed." Clary bites her lip.

"I like the floor." I retort, which is true. The floor and I have become so close, we're practically married. "And I'm not letting you sleep on the floor," I add, which is also true.

She chews on her lower lip, glancing between the floor and me. "Maybe..." she hesitates. "Maybe we can both sleep in the bed."

I feel the colour drain from my face, and then I feel it rush back to my cheeks. I don't blush, but I guess I am now. My heart beats faster. "Uh." I say. "Okay."

"Alright." Clary looks as awkward as I feel. She climbs into the bed and I do too, on the other side. Every muscle in my body is on alert. I'm in a bed with the girl I have a crush on. This is totally normal...right? "Goodnight, then," she says quietly.

"'Night." I mumble. She turns on her side and closes her eyes.

I don't sleep. Not right away, anyway. Her heavier breathing lets me know that she's fast asleep, but I'm still awake. Wide awake.

I grab my phone, play a few games. I can't sleep, but it doesn't matter, because we most likely won't have school tomorrow anyway. I keep the lamp on my side of the bed on, because I'm still nervous about this. I contemplate sleeping on the floor still, but before I can, the lamp goes out.

I frown and plug in my phone, but it doesn't charge. The power's out.

The temperature in the room immediately drops when the heat stops working. Clary shivers in her sleep.

"Clary?" I whisper. "Clary, wake up."

She mumbles something that I can't hear. "The power went out," I explain to her, hoping she's awake enough to hear me. "I'm going to go find a few more blankets for you, okay?"

Clary makes a small noise. Okay, good. She heard me.

I slide off the bed and use the flashlight on my phone to locate the hallway closet, grabbing three more blankets. I catch Magnus slipping out of his bedroom and into Alec's, and I crack a smile as I walk back to my own room.

Clary's shivering heavily when I get back to the room. I place the blankets over her and say, "Maybe I should sleep on the floor." I bite my lip.

"No." Clary says instantly. "It's not fair. I won't allow you to sleep on the floor."

"Clary—" I start.

"Just get in the stupid bed, Jace," says Clary stubbornly. She turns back onto her side. "You're going to have serious back issues if you keep sleeping on the floor, anyway."

"_You _try sleeping in a bed with your crush." I mumble under my breath, sighing, too quiet for her to hear. But I climb in beside her and immediately feel the bed shaking lightly from Clary's shivering. "I can _feel _you shivering, Clary."

"Sorry." Clary's teeth chatter together as she speaks. "It's not my fault I'm cold."

I sigh again. There's only one way I can think of getting her warm, and I'm going to be super nervous about it. "Come here."

"What?"

"Come over here."

"Over by you?" she inquires.

"That's what I'm implying, yes." I say, gathering up my courage.

Clary inches toward me and I reach out to her, wrapping my arms around her torso. She's absolutely freezing, and I make a face at the contrast of her ice-cold skin against mine, which is warm. "Thanks." she mumbles. "I probably would have frozen to death."

"You know," I say dryly, "you would warm up faster if you took your clothes off." Clary whacks my shoulder. "I was _kidding_, Carrot. Jeez."

Or was I? Hormones make me confused. "Yeah, yeah," she says, rolling her emerald eyes.

At this point, I get tired. Clary falls asleep after me, because her breathing isn't heavy when my eyelids finally close and I finally fall asleep. Clary's icy body warms with each second, and even in my sleep I can tell that she's completely warm. But she doesn't move, and neither do I.

I sleep very well that night.

* * *

><p><strong>you guys i just ship them <strong>_**so hard **_**you have no idea how much it's killing me to not push them together right now but i have to wait ugh**

**(410?)**


	13. thirteen

**Author's Note: So in chapter thirteen of PM, there's barely any Jace. So this chapter is completely different. And I decided to make these two future brother-in-laws bond in this chapter. **

**You're welcome.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen<strong>

The house is quiet on this Saturday. Clary is in my room, talking to her brother. Alec is out with Magnus. Max is with the younger Blackthorns at their home, and Isabelle is out with Aline Penhallow and Helen Blackthorn for a shopping trip.

And Simon is doing absolutely nothing.

"Simon." I say, pinching the bridge of my nose as he rolls the pencil against the kitchen table for the thousandth time. "What do you say you and I go do something, yeah?"

"Um." Simon looks warily at me. "Why? What do you want?"

"I want to not be bored." I cross my arms over my chest. "And I also want _you _to not be bored so you can stop with the pencil-rolling. Come on; let's catch a movie or something."

"Since when do two guys who aren't even friends go catch a movie?"

"Ouch." I say sarcastically, putting my hand over my heart. "That hurts, Simon. We have to be friends if we're going to be brother-in-laws."

His eyes bug at this, and I laugh. "Eventually, young grasshopper. You have a lot to learn about the female population if you're ever going to marry my sister."

"Who said anything about marrying Isabelle?" he complains.

I shrug. "Technically, thanks to Graymark, you already are."

Clary runs into the room next, with her shoes on and phone in hand, heading toward the door. "I'm meeting my dad for lunch," she throws over her shoulder. "See you guys later."

"Bye!" Simon calls as she leaves. And then he glares at me. "Fine, Lightwood. Let's go do something."

"I'm not trying to be rude, you know." I say, standing up. "I'm not just hanging out with you because you're my only option. You're a cool guy, Simon."

Simon blinks at me. "Was that a compliment?"

"Your best friend has changed me for the better." I say, grabbing my keys. "We'll take my car."

"Clary?" he questions, getting into the shotgun seat of my car. "So...do you like her?"

"Duh. She's my friend."

"I don't mean in the friend way, Jace."

I don't respond at first. But as we get out of the neighbourhood, I say, "Yeah. I do like her."

"You know if you hurt her, you're dead meat, right?"

I smile lightly. "Yeah, Simon. I know. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I don't hurt her intentionally. Or unintentionally."

Simon whistles. "She really did change you for the better."

"Ha-ha," I say sarcastically. "You know, Simon, I think we could be really good friends."

"Don't push it," he warns.

I laugh.

* * *

><p>Simon and I are at lunch when I say casually, "And <em>you <em>know if you hurt Isabelle, you're more than dead meat, correct?"

Simon chokes on a French fry. He coughs twice, gulps down his glass of water, and then manages to say, "Yeah, I know. Alec already warned me. And Max."

"Max?" I raise my eyebrows.

"He told me he would say bad things about Star Wars in front of me if I hurt Isabelle." Simon confirms.

I snort. "That sounds like Max."

"He's really bonded with Clary, hasn't he?" Simon comments. "I can tell that much."

"Yeah." I say. "He adores her."

"Everyone adores Clary." Simon says. "At some point in their life."

I look at him.

"I used to like her," he informs me. "No—I used to love her."

"Really?" That's new. "When?"

"I've known Clary since the diaper days—and even before then." Simon says. "Our parents were very close. She was basically my twin—we were inseparable until we were five. And then when my family went on a vacation, I realised how much I missed her. When I was seven, I had a huge crush on her, but I was able to hide it well. By the time I was eight, I told my mom about it, and she concluded that I was in love with Clary."

"And when did you get over it?"

"Sophomore year." Simon informs me. "I told her that year, too. She was surprisingly cool about it. And she even apologised for it."

I laugh. "That sounds like Clary."

"Yeah." Simon shrugs. "Sophomore year was the year I first had a class with Isabelle, too. I had a crush on her that year, and last year, and this year."

"Isabelle's liked you since sophomore year, too," I remark. "She didn't know your name at first, but she thought you were super cute. You were the first guy that ever made her nervous."

"Wow." Simon rubs the back of his neck. "Really?"

"Really."

"Jeez." he exhales. "That's...wow."

I laugh a second time. It's easy to talk with Simon—and maybe it's because I'm falling in love with his best friend. I'm not sure. Maybe it's because he's dating my sister and he's as nervous with her as she as with him. I—

Wait. _Falling in love? _Since when did I decide I was falling in love with Clary Morgenstern?

"We should probably get back," says Simon after a minute. "It's getting late."

I check the time. It's nearly five—after the movie around one, and then eating, it makes sense. "Mom's planning a late dinner," I inform him, reading the text she sent me. "So it's no rush. Unless you want to get back to Isabelle."

The sheepish look on his face says it all. "Okay, then," I say, smiling slightly. "Let's go."

My phone rings as we walk. I hold it up to my ear as I pull open my car door, asking, "Hello?"

"Hi." Clary says on the other line. "Missed me?"

I smile. "Not at all." I tease her, mouthing 'Clary' to Simon at his questioning look. "How was lunch with Dad?"

"It was nice." she says. "Has Maryse gone nuts yet?"

"Nope." I say. "She's planning a late dinner."

"Perfect." Clary admits. "I'll be home in a couple of minutes, okay?"

"Take your time." I reassure her. "It's no rush. See you."

"Bye," she says.

"Bye," I say.

Clary hangs up first, and I put my phone in my pocket as I start the car. We're out of the parking lot when I realise that Simon is staring at me.

"What?" I frown at him.

"Nothing." Simon shakes his head. "It's just...you and Clary sound like you're a married couple."

"We do not." I say, but as I think about it...

"Sure you do," he insists. "You're so _easy _when you talk to her. And you're always grinning. And I could hear her speaking—she called your house home. And you said 'lunch with Dad,' like he was your dad too."

"We don't sound like a married couple." I argue. "She doesn't even like me."

But Simon is strangely silent after that. He doesn't speak again while we drive home, and I'm left to my thoughts of Clary dressed in white, walking up an aisle, while I wait for her at the altar.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter is the Clace trip to Michigan! Are y'all excited to read it in Jace's POV?<strong>

**(So sorry about the late update guys! I've been out all day with no access to fanfiction. Can we get to 450 reviews? Please?)**


	14. fourteen

**Author's Note: Here's Jace's take on Michigan!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Fourteen<strong>

"It means a lot that you're driving us to the airport, Izzy." Clary repeats herself for at least the fifth time. From where I'm sitting beside Clary in the backseat, I can see my sister roll her eyes. I grin.

"It's no _problem, _Clary, really." Isabelle repeats herself too. "I love driving. Plus, Jace paid for my gas, so I'm happy about that."

Oh. Well, that's new. I'd told her not to say anything. Oh, well.

Clary glances at me. "Of course he did."

"She had offered to do it without the gas money, Carrot." I inform Clary with the truth, patting her head. "But I felt bad, so I gave her the money."

Why did I just pat her head? Ugh. Dealing with this whole crush thing is hard.

"It's true." Izzy says cheerfully. "The airport's just up here, so be ready."

When we reach the airport, I get out to unload our bags. Isabelle says her goodbye to Clary, and once I shut the trunk, they're finished.

Clary moves to put the bags onto the sidewalk and my sister grabs my arm, pulling me into a hug.

"Have loads of fun, Jace." she informs me. "And try to control your feelings while you're there."

I snort and roll my eyes at the same time. Telling Isabelle was a bad idea. When did I even tell her, anyway? "I can control my feelings."

"Really? Patting Clary on the head tells me differently."

"Oh, come _on." _Isabelle rolls her eyes.

"I'll see you after spring break is over, Isabelle." I change the subject, hugging my sister again and kissing her on the forehead. "Use protection."

"_Jace!" _Isabelle all-but snarls at me, but I dive out of her punching distance, laughing loudly. Realising that she can't hurt me with witnesses around, she fumingly gets into the front seat and drives away.

Clary is waiting on the sidewalk as I bend down and grab my bag. "Ready?" I ask her.

She slings her duffel bag over her shoulder. "Ready."

"Alright." I say, glancing at my watch. "We've got two hours until boarding. We can get our boarding passes, check our bags, go through security, and grab dinner."

"Sounds like a plan." Clary says. And then we enter the airport.

I normally don't like airports, but something about being here with Clary has changed my perspective on it. We get our boarding passes with ease and check our bags (and though we could have easily taken them on the plane, Southwest allows us to check a bag free). Security has no wait, and it's a quick and easy process.

We stop at a McDonalds on our way to our terminal and find two seats together to wait. "So we just sit here for an hour and wait," muses Clary. I nod. "This will be fun."

"Of course it will be." I say, leaning back. "Screaming babies, whining children. How much more fun can this be?"

She laughs. I really like her laugh.

We talk about what we're going to do—and Clary tells me a little bit about her brother. Her eyes shine as she does.

But nature calls about half an hour later. "I have to go to the bathroom," I inform her, and stand up. "Be right back."

I leave the terminal.

Something about Clary is different than any other girl I've ever liked before. Most girls that I've liked or been in a relationship with have always been kind of annoying, I guess. I dated Kaelie Underwood once, and that was not a good decision.

They were clingy, in a way. And I like Clary because she's completely the opposite of that—and she's not afraid to speak her mind. She's obstinate and she can be very annoying, but I like those things about her.

Oh, God, am I falling in love with her? This is insane.

After peeing, I make my way back to the terminal. Clary looks a little dazed as I sit down.

"Did I miss anything?" I ask, eating a French fry.

Clary shakes her head. The dazed look is gone. "Nothing."

* * *

><p>On the flight, we watch <em>The Avengers.<em>

Kill me now.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." I grumble. Clary is _totally _gloating as she puts the movie in her laptop. "I must really like you if I'm watching this movie yet _again _with you. This is the third time."

"You love this movie." she retorts, laughing. "Don't deny it."

I also note that I sort-of-but-not-really admitted my feelings for her.

I roll my eyes but put a headphone in my ear. My arm rests against hers during the entire movie. Her chest rises with mine.

Okay. What is this tingling feeling inside of me? Am I going to puke? Maybe. I'm not even sure.

Sure, I like Clary. But there's no way in hell that she likes me. After how much of a dick I've been to her? I'd always be just Golden Boy to her. And I would have to pretend that she was just Carrot to me—and that she would _always _be just Carrot.

The movie takes up the whole flight. When we land, Clary puts her laptop away and puts her backpack on. I follow her out of the plane.

"Has Jonathan texted you?" I ask her, following her to baggage claim.

"Yeah." Clary answers. "He's waiting outside of the baggage claim."

I nod. When we get our bags and walk outside, it's dark, because it's nine at night. And it's cold because it's winter.

"Well, if it isn't my lovely dwarf sister." a voice teases from behind us.

I turn in surprise. A very young man is standing there with white-blond hair and bright green eyes that match Clary's. He's grinning at Clary beside me.

Clary hugs him tightly. "Be grateful I'm too happy to punch you for that comment, Jon." she grumbles.

So this is Jonathan. Why am I now nervous?

Jonathan Morgenstern laughs and lets go of Clary, taking her bag from her. "You must be Jace." he nods at me, smiling. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard _tons _about you."

"Oh, really?" I raise one eyebrow as I look at Clary.

Clary blushes. "Yeah. I've told him all about you. You know, how annoying you are."

I make a face at her and put my bag next to hers in the trunk. "You're funny, Carrot."

She grins back at me. "I know I am."

I climb into the backseat and so did Clary, and once Jonathan starts the car, Clary asks, "So how's college been, Jon?"

"Difficult." Jonathan muses. "But it has its fun moments. How's Alec, Jace?"

I'd forgotten that though I had never met Jonathan before, he knew that I was Alec's younger brother. "He's good." I nod. "He got out of college early this year."

"He told me about that." Jonathan nods too. "I'll have to see him this summer at some point."

"Oh!" Clary says immediately. "Alec's little sister says hi."

Jonathan's eyebrows furrow. "Isabelle?" he asks. Clary nods from beside me. "Oh, cool. She was a nice kid."

So he met Izzy, too? "How come I'd never met you before?" I wonder.

"I only met Isabelle once, and that was because Alec drove her to the mall," says Jonathan. "I went over to the Lightwoods' place plenty of times, but that's weird. I never met you, Jace, or Max, either."

"I'd never really met Alec." Clary recalls.

"Yeah." Jonathan frowns. "That's weird. You must have been at Simon's whenever Alec came over or something. Speaking of which, how is my favourite Star Wars-loving nerd?"

I stifle my laughter at that. I'll have to use that on Simon one of these days.

The car ride to Ann Arbor is full of Jonathan's laughter. He laughs at my jokes, and he laughs whenever Clary teases me. I like Jonathan a lot. He's really cool. I'm glad Clary let me come with.

"Alright, kiddos." Jonathan says, pulling his car to a park in front of the hotel. "Here's your home for the week."

"Thanks for driving us, Jon." Clary gives her brother a hug as we get out of the car.

"No problem, little sis." Jonathan grins at her. "I'm super glad you're here. We're going to have a freaking blast here this week."

"I hope so." Clary laughs. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup." Jonathan agrees. "Bye, Clary. Bye, Jace," he adds to me.

"See you." I nod at him.

Jonathan gets in his car and drives off.

"So what do you think of my brother?" Clary asks, entering the hotel beside me.

"He reminds me of you a lot." I answer slowly. "I can see the resemblance. Same eyes. Does he get the white-blond hair from your dad?"

"Yeah." Clary nods. "I get the red from my mom."

"I figured." I agree. "But yeah, he's cool. I knew he would be, though."

"Yeah," says Clary again. She waits for me to check us in, and once I do, I hold onto the room key as we enter the elevator.

I am more than excited for this trip. Meeting Clary's brother was great—a little nerve-wracking, too, but great.

So who knows what else I'll find entertaining this week? Don't they say 'What happens in Michigan stays in Michigan?'

Oh, wait, no. That's Vegas. Oops.

Ah, oh well. Now it's Michigan.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter took me a long time to write, if I'm being honest.<strong>

**(Once again, we reached our goal. You guys never cease to amaze me. 490?)**


	15. fifteen

**Author's Note: I'm actually really excited to write the brotriangle scene for Jace, Jon, and Seb. And that's in this chapter. So yay.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Fifteen<strong>

I wake up to the sound of the shower starting. When I look over at Clary's bed, she isn't in it. Well, _duh. _Who else would be showering in this room?

Clary exits the bathroom, fully dressed and ready. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty," she teases me.

"Oh, shut up." I grumble.

Clary laughs. "The bathroom's all yours, Golden Boy. There's breakfast downstairs and then Jon's picking us up so we can head to the university."

"Sounds good." I muse, pulling the covers back and sliding out of bed. I enter the bathroom a moment later and lock the door behind me.

Five minutes later, I'm done showering and dressing. "Ready for breakfast?" I ask her.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Clary stands up from her bed. "I'm starving."

"Me too." I agree. I open the hotel door for her. "What time is Jon coming?"

"Twenty minutes." she replies. "That's enough time for us to eat, right?"

"Yup." I say. "So have you applied for any colleges?" I ask, making small talk as we head down to the lobby.

"No." Clary admits. "Not yet. I've been busy with this project."

I sigh. Good to know I'm not the _only _procrastinating senior. "Same here. But maybe visiting U of M will motivate me."

"I was looking at applying here." Clary muses. "If I did, Jon and I would share a flat until he finishes college."

"What do you want to do?" I ask her. "As a job?"

"Speech therapist." Clary says. I watch the sparkle in her eyes brighten as she speaks. "Or a regular teacher. I think it'd be cool to teach kids. Maybe not high school, though. Luke's got his hands full with all of us."

I laugh. "Yeah. That's true."

To tell the truth, I've always been a little thrown off whenever Clary calls our teacher Luke, and not Mr. Graymark. And it always takes me a second to remember that he's a family friend of hers. So I ask, "How long have you known Graymark?"

"Since birth, basically." Clary shrugs. "He's been friends with my parents since their own high school days. But now that's all gone to hell."

Right. The divorce. "Are your parents still in the process of finalizing it?"

"Yeah." Clary presses a button on the elevator. "Mom moved to Luke's place, and now Dad has that huge house to himself. It's kind of sad."

"I can only imagine." I reply quietly. Clary was absolutely heartbroken when her parents decided to get a divorce. And the fact that they were getting a divorce because her mother had an affair with her psychology teacher is even worse. "Are you still upset by it?"

"I've gotten over it." Clary sighs. "I wish it never happened, but the past is in the past. I can't take it back. Nobody can. So my kids will have one more grandfather than usual. They'll understand divorce one day."

"They'll have more grandparents to spoil them." I say, lightening the mood a bit.

It works. Clary laughs. "You're right." she steps out of the open elevator. "You know, I'm glad you came with me here."

She is? "You are?" I ask her.

I follow Clary into the lobby, and I don't see her face as she replies, "Yeah. I really am."

"Well, I'm glad you let me come." I admit.

"Why wouldn't I?" she asks, slightly puzzled.

"Maybe you wanted to spend time with your brother alone." I shrug. "That's what I'd want to do with Alec if I didn't see him so much. I'm glad he decided to stay local, but that was mostly for Max's benefit. Isabelle's not planning on going to college in New York and neither am I, really. I feel bad that Max is going to be the only one in the house, but..."

"He'll understand when he's going to college himself." Clary reassures me. "And he's got friends, doesn't he? The Blackthorns?"

"Yeah." I manage a smile. Clary's right. How is she always right? "He's got a crush on one of them. Dru or Livvy—I can't remember."

We don't speak again until we both finish eating. I would be lying if I said the silence wasn't awkward, but isn't it always? I mean, I'm in a completely different state with my crush, meeting her brother, staying here for a week. That's awkward as _hell _in my book.

Clary stands up to throw away her paper plate and checks her phone as she does so. When she returns, she informs me, "Jon's outside. You ready to go visit a college campus?"

I bite my lip. The nervousness I felt last night is back. "Sure." I say, and then I add, "Is it bad if I'm a little nervous?"

"Not at all." Clary promises. "It's scary to think you're growing up."

That's not what I'm entirely nervous about, but I guess that's part of it too. "I miss being a kid sometimes." I admit to her. I miss being a child and having no worries.

"Me too." Clary agrees. "But mostly because Jon was home. I relied on him more than I relied on my parents."

"Alec was my best friend when I was younger." I recall. Actually, he was basically my only friend for a while. I didn't start making friends until preschool. "I think it's the closeness of age."

"Yeah." Clary agrees, waving at her brother. He sits in his car. "Well," she says, "let's go grow up."

* * *

><p>"Welcome to my school." Jonathan informs us as we reach the college. He parks his car. "Isn't it massive?"<p>

"Massive has to be an understatement." I say, whistling under my breath. "I've seen pictures of this place, but none of them actually show how big it is."

"You get the hang of where everything is after the first few weeks." Jonathan says. "C'mon. I've got a few people I want you to meet."

Clary walks beside me as we follow her brother through the campus. He must be popular—guys wave at him and girls giggle when he walks by. I don't think Clary catches the giggling girls, though. She would have rolled her eyes at them.

Jonathan stops walking in front of two people—a very beautiful girl and a dark-haired boy who looks oddly familiar. Jonathan takes the girl's hand, smiles at her, and says, "Clary, this is my girlfriend, Mary Seelie. Mary, this is my sister, Clary."

Ha, that rhymed.

"And Mary, this is Clary's friend Jace Lightwood. Jace, this is Mary."

"It's nice to meet you." I tell Mary Seelie.

She smiles at me. "And you. I've heard a lot about you, Clary," she adds to the redhead.

"Really?" Clary smiles back at her, and then glances at Jonathan. "I wish I could say the same."

Jonathan's expression is sheepish. "Sorry?"

Mary Seelie laughs.

"And this is my best friend, Sebastian Verlac." Jonathan says, and I assume he's talking about the dark-haired boy. Verlac! That's a familiar name... "He's Aline Penhallow's cousin, actually."

Aha! That's where it's from. He and Aline would always talk in the hallways when Sebastian still went to Alicante. "Really?" asks Clary, shaking Sebastian's hand. "Wow. Cool. Aline's a nice girl."

Sebastian smiles. He's very protective of his cousin—especially when she came out. I think he assumes most people hate her.

"So you're a senior in high school, right?" Mary asks. I know she's taking to Clary.

"Yeah." Clary says.

"Have you applied anywhere?"

"Not yet." Clary admits, turning to look around at the huge campus. "But I'll do it soon. New York is nice, but it gets kind of boring after eighteen years."

Jonathan grins. "My thoughts exactly."

"What about you, Jace?" Mary asks me.

I shrug. "I haven't applied anywhere either, yet. But I'm definitely leaving New York."

I don't know how long we talk with Mary, Jonathan, and Sebastian. Clary looks extremely happy to be here—and although I may feel a little like a fish out of water, I still like Michigan. And Sebastian's jokes are hilarious.

Lunchtime comes quicker than I expected. Sebastian and Jonathan are already on their feet, offering to get a pizza from a place off campus—which apparently has the best pizza. "Do you want to come with, Jace?" Jonathan asks me.

I glance at Clary. She's still smiling from Sebastian's last joke. "Sure." I stand up.

Once we walk away, Sebastian grins. "So that's the girl you like, huh?" he asks me.

Blinking, I say, "Uh...what?"

"It's kind of obvious that you like my sister." Jonathan agrees. "I noticed it last night, too."

I'm still too surprised that they guessed it to say anything.

"I'm not going to kill you, man. Chill." Clary's brother laughs and claps my shoulder. This doesn't reassure me.

"How...is it really that obvious?" I manage.

"Basically the most obvious thing in the world." Sebastian agrees. He and Jonathan share a look. "So why haven't you asked her out yet?"

"Because I don't have the balls." I answer. "Plus, she doesn't like me. Jonathan knows—we used to hate each other."

"You _both _used to." Jonathan points out. "Clary likes you more than she knows, Jace."

"I don't know." I bite my lip. "I don't...I'm really not looking for a relationship at the moment, if I'm being honest. I'm not even _entirely _sure of my own feelings."

"As long as you don't hurt her," says Jonathan, "I'm fine."

But something tells me that eventually, I really _will _hurt her. And it'll hurt me just as much.

* * *

><p><strong>Who else loves the brotriangle? :D<strong>


	16. sixteen

**Author's Note: haaaaaay**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Sixteen<strong>

I wake up to my phone's ringtone.

Looking at the clock, I realise that it's eight in the morning—and I reach out to answer the call before the noise wakes Clary up.

"Hello?" I mumble into the phone.

"Jace?"

It takes me a minute to recognise the voice, but I know it's Jonathan's when he continues speaking. "Are you awake?"

"I am now." I move a little bit, sitting up in my bed. "What's up, Jon?"

"Sebastian and I are going to catch a showing of Non-Stop. Do you want to join us?"

"Uh, sure." I slide out of the bed. "What time does the movie end?"

"About eleven fifteen. Mary's picking Clary up at eleven to meet us for lunch."

"Alright." I grab a clean shirt and pants and head into the bathroom. "What time will you be here?"

"Um...about nineish. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah." I say. "I'll see you guys then."

Jonathan hangs up.

I shower quickly. Once I'm dressed and out of the bathroom, I grab a piece of paper from the hotel notepad and use a pen to scribble down a message for Clary.

_Clary,_

_Jon and Sebastian picked me up at nine. Mary's getting you at eleven. See you._

_Jace_

I fold the note once and then place it on the pillow next to her.

When I get to the lobby, there's enough time for me to eat a bit of breakfast. By the time I'm finished, Jonathan's car is in the parking lot.

I take a seat in the back and say, "Hey."

Jon and Sebastian both say hi.

We've only got four days until we go home. I know that Clary wants to stay longer—and she would if she was able to. Even I would like to stay longer. Michigan is peaceful. And there isn't my mom, who is disappointed every time she _looks _at Alec. One of these days, she's just going to blow up, and I don't want to be there when she does.

* * *

><p>"We're meeting the girls here." Jonathan tells Sebastian and me, pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant called <em>Cheers. <em>"They'll be here in about five minutes, Mary says."

"Alright." Sebastian answers. We climb out of the car.

True enough, Jonathan was right. Five minutes later, the two girls walk into the restaurant.

Jonathan waves at them. "Hey, little sis," he says to Clary. He climbs out of the booth, giving his sister a hug and his girlfriend a kiss. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Clary slides across from us, into the empty side of the booth. So does Mary. "Did you?"

"Of course I did." Jon grins.

"Morning, Clary." Sebastian says cheerfully.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. When did _Sebastian _get all familiar with Clary? This is weird. I don't like it.

Clary smiles at Sebastian. "Morning, Sebastian."

Ew. I think I'm going to puke.

Instead, I smile at Clary.

"So what's New York like?" asks Sebastian. It takes me a moment to realise he's speaking to Clary only, and then another to realise how _stupid _of a question that was.

Jonathan must be thinking the same thing, because he looks weirdly at Sebastian. "Why are you asking? You used to live there, stupid. And you visit Aline enough."

Sebastian blinks. "I forgot," he says, and I almost snort. He so didn't forget.

"Uh," says Clary. "It's nice. It's cold, though, and noisy. But very nice."

"When Jon goes home for the summer, I'll have to visit." Sebastian decides. He leans back.

"Sounds like a plan." Clary smiles at him, and Sebastian smiles back.

Someone gag me with a spoon. This is gross. Sebastian is totally trying—and failing—to flirt with her.

The waitress takes our order. I realise that there is an odd number of people—five of us—and, moments later when Jonathan and Mary go off into their own little world, it gets incredibly awkward between Sebastian, Clary, and I.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Sebastian asks Clary.

I stiffen. And so does Jonathan. "Uh..." says Clary slowly. "No, but I have a husband."

I see the dark-haired boy's eyes fly to Clary's left hand and I hear Jonathan's choked back laughter, and I can't help but smirk.

"It's me." I say to him. "I'm her husband."

Serves you right for trying to flirt with her even though you _know _I like her, you stupid bastard.

Sebastian opens and closes his mouth, and then says, "Uh, okay. But I don't see rings. And you two are too young to be married."

"Agree to disagree." Clary retorts.

It takes all I have to not smile.

* * *

><p>"I really had fun with you being here, Clary." I watch as Jonathan hugs his sister tightly.<p>

"You barely spoke to me." Clary corrects. "Looks like you'll have to come home sooner to make up for it."

I smile lightly and turn to Mary as she approaches me. "It was very nice to meet you, Jace," she informs me, pulling me in for a hug.

"It was nice to meet you too, Mary." I tell her genuinely.

Mary's smile widens. "Hopefully I'll see you again."

"I would like that." I admit.

She smiles again and then turns to Clary, while Jonathan turns to me. "It was great to meet you. Put a face to the name, you know?"

"You already knew what I looked like." I point out. "You know, since you were Alec's best friend and all?"

Jonathan waves a hand. "I didn't pay _attention."_

We both laugh. "Thanks for letting me come." I say. "It's not every day that your crush's big brother lets you take a weeklong vacation with her."

"That's because I'm not like most big brothers." Jonathan claps my shoulder. "I'm the best. Have a nice flight home, Jace. See you later."

I like that he's so sure of it. "See you," I say.

Jonathan takes Mary's hand and steps back from us, leaving Clary and I to walk through the airport in silence.

"I had fun this week." I say casually, sitting down in the terminal waiting area after we finally get through. "Thank you for letting me come with."

"Thank you for _coming _with." Clary smiles at me. "I'm glad you had fun."

"Me, too," I agree. But something hits me. If spring break is over, then... "And now we're in the second half of the project."

"I know." Clary bites her lower lip. "It's insane."

"Did you think we would become friends?"

"Truthfully? Not really." Clary wrings her hands.

I laugh. "I didn't think so either." I admit. "But I'm glad we did."

"So am I."

But I want more. Watching Sebastian flirt with Clary on Wednesday almost made me realise that.

Clary looks zoned out as I reach over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. "Clary," I say. "We're boarding now."

She snaps out of her thinking. I don't have to look and see if she's behind me—I can feel her eyes on me.

Eventually, I will ask Clary Morgenstern out. It's decided.

(Also, if I see another guy flirting with her, I will punch him in the balls. That is all.)

* * *

><p><strong>So while Clary denies her feelings, Jace accepts them...and the plot thickens...<strong>


	17. seventeen

**Author's Note: here is chapter seventeen for ya!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seventeen<strong>

Being without Isabelle and Simon in my house is _odd. _

I'm so used to seeing them and hearing them around, and now it's just eerily silent. Alec has found his own place to stay at now, so he's never home either. And since Alec is never over, Magnus is never over. So that leaves my parents, Max, Clary, and me.

"I'm driving from now on." Clary declares. It's Monday—the first Monday after spring break.

Driving? Me letting Clary drive? No way. I nearly choke on my orange juice. "No way, Carrot." I set down the glass.

"What?" Clary frowns unhappily. "Why not?"

"Because I happen to like driving." I retort. And I also happen to like my head on my body. "...And I miss my car."

She rolls her eyes and puts her backpack on. "We can alternate, then. But I miss _my _car, too."

I don't think she's necessarily a bad driver. But unless Izzy or I am driving, then I can get carsick really easily. I don't know why that happens, but it just does. Guess I'm weird.

But I pout at her.

"I'm driving, Jace." Clary informs me. She grabs her car keys off the hook for the first time, like, ever. Even when she went to go get Max comic books for his birthday, she took my car. And she took my car when she went to lunch with her dad. "Today, at least," she adds.

"Fine, bossy pants." I grumble. "Let's go to school."

As we drive, I realise that she is actually a great driver. I don't have the strange urge to hurl up my food, as I normally do when I'm not driving. "So," I say as she drives. "When do you think Alec will tell my parents about him and Magnus?"

"I wasn't aware that they were an official thing yet." Clary replies. She takes a left turn at an intersection. "Are they?"

"They have been for a while now." I say. It's true—I was the first to know other than the lovebirds themselves. Isabelle was second. And now Clary is third—maybe fourth. They never told Max, but I believe he suspects. He's a perceptive one for a ten-year-old. "I think Alec was trying to keep it a secret, but it didn't really work out, did it?" I add.

Clary smiles as she drives. "No," she agrees. "It didn't work out."

"You know what's strange?" I add. For the past three days, I've been trying to see if I could get something out of Clary that would confirm that she likes me. It hasn't worked yet.

"What?" asks Clary.

"When I told him it was obvious that Magnus was crushing on him, he told me that I was one to talk." I frown, trying to look deep in thought. I see Clary look at me out of the corner of my eye. "What does that mean?"

"No idea." Clary replies. She sounds casual.

I glance at her. She even _looks _casual. "Huh." I say. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she really doesn't like me.

I still watch her as she pulls into the parking lot of school. "Well," she says, "here we are."

She sounds quiet. Oddly quiet. Hmm...

"If you figure out what he meant by that, let me know." I clear my throat, climbing out of her car.

"I will." Clary answers.

Something tells me she won't.

* * *

><p>Isabelle nearly attacks me when I walk into the classroom. I don't remember losing Clary in the halls, but somehow I did, because she's already in there when I enter, and by the looks of it, she's already been attacked by my sister.<p>

"Jace!" Isabelle hugs me tightly. "Hi! How was Michigan? Clary said it was nice, but what did _you _think?"

"I thought it was nice, too," I answer. "How's Simon's place?"

"It's great." Isabelle waves a hand. "Back to Michigan. Did you get anywhere with Clary?"

"No, I didn't." I say, slightly annoyed.

"Oh."

"But did _you _get anywhere with Simon?" I ask her, waggling my eyebrows suggestively.

Isabelle whacks my arm. "Jace Lightwood! How _dare _you insinuate such a thing on school property!"

"I have no idea what you could mean by that, Isabelle." I respond innocently. Isabelle glares at me. "I was only asking if you progressed in your ongoing checkers game."

She looks more annoyed than anything. "You, Jace, are a pain in my _ass."_

"Thank you very much." I give her a winning smile.

"That was not a compliment."

"It was in my book."

"Is today opposite day, or something?"

"Only for me." I correct cheerily.

Isabelle groans out loud. "Why are you my twin brother?"

But before I can make her life worse by teasing her about something else, Graymark enters the room. "Take your seats." he says. "I've got a big thing I want to talk to all of you about."

Oh, great. Last time we had a 'big thing' talk, it was this project. How much worse can this be? I take a seat.

"There's a new twist in the project." Graymark's grin is wolfish. "Of course, with almost every marriage come children."

Oh, God. Is he going to give us robot babies?

"Do you have any idea how many of us took Child Development, Mr. Graymark?" Will speaks up from beside me. "Those robot babies are absolutely nasty. I am _not _taking care of one of those."

"I didn't say anything about robot babies." Graymark retorts.

Clary sits up in her seat. Her eyes lock with mine briefly and I hold back my groan. I should have known there was more to this.

"The foster home down the road has been getting a surplus of young children recently. They have nearly twenty children of one or younger. And no couples are looking to foster these babies." our teacher continues.

Oh, jeez. Is this legal?

"And as you all know, these are foster babies, so they can only stay with families for a small amount of time."

Stop talking, Graymark.

"I have a friend who works at the foster home and she has agreed to let all of you take care of a child for a part of the project."

"Take care of _real _babies?" asks Simon.

Graymark nods.

"We don't know _how _to take care of babies, with all due respect, Luke," says Clary. She bites her lower lip.

"I've already notified all of your parents and they are more than willing to help out." Graymark replies. More than willing to help out, my ass. I bet it took some real convincing to get every single parent to agree. "The church has offered to let us use their daycare while all of you are here in school during the day."

"So we're really doing this part of the project?" Kaelie inquires.

Graymark nods.

"When?" I ask.

"It won't be for at least another month, and when it does start it will go until the end of the project. Think of it as babysitting," adds Graymark.

"Babysitting without pay." Aline corrects under her breath.

"As soon as I figure out the exact starting date, I will let all of you know." Graymark promises. "And now that this has all been discussed, the rest of the hour is yours."

Ours to what? Worry about how we're all going to be teenage parents for a month or two? How is this project educational? Is it even _legal?_

I sit in the seat next to Clary. She looks troubled, so I say teasingly, "Are you ready to become a mother?"

"Ha-ha," says Clary sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Are _you _ready to become a father?"

I mimic her actions, rolling my eyes. I sit back in my chair. "What do you think about that whole thing? Adding a baby to the equation?"

"I think it's complicated," says Clary slowly, "but it makes the project more realistic." She bites her lip. "I mean, all we're doing is being married, but we don't _do _anything that a couple does. Most of these partners don't."

"True." I have to give her that point. "But a _baby _is supposed to make it more realistic? How does that work? The baby will cry all night."

"Only newborns do that." Clary informs me.

Same difference. "Still," I insist.

She sighs. "I guess. But we can only wait and see how this plays out."

I try not to grin as I say, "We'll have to discuss baby names, you know."

"Oh, shut it."

* * *

><p><strong>Daddy Jace is something I'm totally looking forward to writing about in his POV...<strong>

**Also, I can just say that the next chapter of PM is in the works. It's not very far in writing, but I'm definitely writing it...**


	18. eighteen

**Author's Note: So in chapter eighteen of Project Marriage, Clary and Isabelle go shopping. And I really don't have anything interesting for Jace there, seeing as he's already accepted his feelings and such. So this chapter is actually chapter **_**nineteen **_**of PM. I was really trying very hard not to get these off track, but I'd really rather not give you two filler chapters in a row. This one will be a filler, by the way. I'm sorry.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eighteen<strong>

In the morning, I wake up in the bed. I don't really remember getting there last night, but I do remember that my arm was around Clary.

My face immediately feels hot. She must have woken up with my arm around her...what did she think? What did she say to herself? I hope she doesn't think I like her. Because if she doesn't like me, that would mess everything up.

But when I go downstairs, I discover that Clary is not in the house, and neither is Max. He must have asked her to take him somewhere.

My phone rings as I'm eating breakfast. When I look at the caller ID, it says Alec. I frown. Alec normally visits—he doesn't call me.

"Alec?" I ask, putting the phone up to my ear. "What's up?"

"I have a problem." Alec admits. "You know that Magnus and I are a couple."

"Yeah." I say. I frown a second time. "What about it?"

He exhales. "I want to tell Mom and Dad."

"You want to what?" I nearly choke on my orange juice—do I always choke on orange juice or something?—and cough. "Alec, that is a very, very bad idea."

"I don't want to keep it from them," he admits.

"Mom will go _ballistic, _Alec. You know she doesn't approve."

My brother winces. "Jace, I just...what do I do? I can't keep this a secret from them for the rest of my life. What could go wrong?"

"A lot of things could go wrong." I nearly snap at him. "I don't want something happening that breaks this family apart."

"Jace—"

"Do what you want, Alec." I grumble. "But just remember that Mom won't approve. And who knows what Dad will say."

I hang up on him without a goodbye, and then I instantly regret it.

It's not like I'm not supportive of Alec. I've known that he was gay since I was in eighth grade—and I remember that his first crush was actually his best friend, Jonathan Morgenstern, Clary's brother. But Alec told Jon their freshman year that he was gay, and Jonathan was completely accepting. He didn't even ask if Alec had ever liked him, or made any teases. Jonathan got Alec through high school.

And then they went their separate ways this year, and Alec found Magnus. They've been extremely close since the start of this school year, and I wasn't surprised when Alec came to me and Isabelle in secret and told us that he was in love with Magnus, and in a relationship with him.

But Mom and Dad were a different story. Dad was supportive, but if Mom made a passing comment, he didn't say anything about it. He just watched with a pained expression, like he wanted to tell her something but he couldn't. As much as it may hurt Dad to hear Mom talk about who Alec is in that way, Dad does love her. He loves her just as much as he loves Alec. So he's kind of torn.

All that I know is that if Alec tells Mom and Dad, Mom will definitely blow up. And Dad won't stop her.

And I may lose my brother in more ways than one.

* * *

><p>"Mind if I join you?" I ask Clary, stepping into the library at home. I had discovered, from Max, that she took him to buy more comic books. Max absolutely adores her still. Clary looks up at me as I set my backpack on the floor beside hers, sitting in a chair. "If you're working on Hodge's English homework, then I totally need help with it," I admit.<p>

"Call Simon." Clary sighs and leans back in her chair. "This Shakespearean unit is never-ending. I'm basically cheating my way through it. If Simon weren't my best friend, I would be failing English right now."

"Thank goodness for nerds, eh?" I joke. She laughs. "But maybe if we work together, we can get the right answers."

"Maybe." Clary moves her worksheet, placing it directly next to mine. "Oh, jeez. You haven't even started it yet."

"I normally don't start my English homework until Psychology." I confess. "So this is a new thing."

"Well, you won't be just copying off my work." Clary informs me. "You'll be doing as much work as I will be, mister."

"Okay, okay, bossy pants." I hold my hands up in surrender.

"I am not _bossy!" _she argues.

"Yes you are."

"I am not."

"You are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Provide me with one scenario in which I have _ever _been bossy." Clary glares right at me.

I stare at her right back. "Right now."

"You're so _stubborn."_

"Thank you." I grin. "It's a Lightwood family trait."

Clary grumbles something under her breath that I don't catch. But speaking of Shakespeare has reminded me of the tens of thousands of times I have seen _The Avengers _with her, and one specific scene has always stood out to me. "You know," I say, "whenever I think of Shakespeare, I always think of _The Avengers."_

"Oh?" Clary raises her eyebrows. "Why?"

"When Iron Man and Thor are in the woods—Stark's 'Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?' and 'Shakespeare in the park' quotes get me every time."

Clary makes a face. "Are Marvel movies all you ever think about?"

"No." I say cheerily. "Occasionally I think about video games and food."

She rolls her eyes. "Boys."

"Hey!" I say, mock-offended. I grin. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," answers Clary, picking up her pencil. She stares at her worksheet.

"No way! That didn't mean nothing."

Was that a double negative? This is why I'm bad at English. Oh, well.

"Get your homework done, Jace." Clary says, keeping her eyes on the paper.

I snort and pick up my pencil. Fine. Two can play at that game. "Girls." I grumble.

"What's that supposed to mean?" demands Clary angrily.

I smile sarcastically at her. "Nothing." I mimic her from earlier.

Clary all-but huffs, turning back to her paper. We don't speak to each other again.

And I _so _totally copy off of her paper.

* * *

><p>Something still bugs me about talking to Alec. Is he really going to talk to Mom and Dad or is he going to take my advice? As much as I get that he wants to tell his parents how happy he is, Mom and Dad can squash that happiness in a heartbeat.<p>

And if they squash Alec's happiness, they'll squash mine, and Izzy's, and Magnus's. Maybe even Max's.

It's a very bad idea for Alec to tell Mom and Dad. And I didn't give him a good enough reason not to.

I reach for my phone and dial Alec's phone number, waiting as it rings. If I'm going to be obstinate about him _not _telling our parents, I have to give him a good reason. That's Alec for you.

But he doesn't pick up.

I call him three more times, and none of those does he pick up. His phone does not go straight to voicemail, so I know it's on. Is he just not by it? Or is he ignoring me?

I send him a text. _Call me._

Nothing can happen to Alec. If something happens to him, I'll never forgive myself.

Ever.

* * *

><p><strong>So Jace is going to be in for a surprise starting next chapter...right?<strong>


	19. nineteen

**Author's Note: so these chapters will be fun to write. I actually have been looking forward to writing them. So here we goooo.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nineteen<strong>

Nothing super interesting happens during the week. I nearly fail an English test, watch yet another food fight in the cafeteria (literally, why are they so popular?), and witness and laugh at two cheerleaders attempting to fight in the hallway. All they really did was pull at each other's extensions until the gym teacher broke it up. But it was pretty great.

Now that Isabelle and Simon are at Simon's, it's just me and Clary in my car as we drive home from school on Friday.

But something is wrong. Someone's car is in the driveway.

And I know exactly whose it is.

"Whose car is that?" asks Clary. She's nearly frowning at the black car in the driveway.

"That's Magnus's car." I put my car in park, getting out of it a second later. "_Shit. _C'mon, Clary."

If Magnus is here, then that means Alec is here. And if Alec is here, that means he's ignored my warning to avoid telling Mom and Dad. How _stupid _is he? This isn't going to end well. Damn it.

I hold the door open for Clary and close it behind her. So far, I don't hear anything. That also is a bad sign.

Clary has the same thought as I do. We both peer into the kitchen at the same time—but nobody is in there.

"Where are they?" I mutter.

"Try the living room." Clary suggests to me.

Good idea. We reach the living room in record time and I fling the doors open.

"They're not here, either." I say, frowning.

Where the _hell _are they?

And then the yelling starts.

I immediately recognise the voice as my mother's, which means that Alec _did _tell her. Shit. I sprint to the library with Clary on my heels, and I push the doors open to see the one thing I dreaded most.

Mom's the only one standing and she's yelling straight at my older brother, whose expression is turning more horrified by the second. I try not to notice that his hand is in Magnus's and how that is making it even worse.

This is not good.

"How _could you?!" _demands Mom. "This lifestyle—this _choice _you've made isn't something that is natural, Alexander!"

She _never _uses his full name. _Ever. _

"It's not a _choice_, Mom." Alec says quietly. Every part of me wants to take my mother out of the room and end this before it gets worse. "It's who I am. I didn't _choose _this."

"Like hell you didn't!" Mom snarls. "You're a disgrace to our family by choosing to be this way."

I can't even look. Anger consumes me. I need to punch something. I need to vent. I need to—

"Mrs. Lightwood, with all due respect—" Magnus begins.

But that only makes it worse. "And _you!" _Mom yells, glaring from Alec to Magnus. My hands curl into fists. "You lead him on! You helped him—helped him _think _that it's okay for him to be gay! It's not!"

"Maryse." Dad cuts in, his voice soft. "That's enough."

Finally he grows a pair and cuts in.

"How are you okay with this?" Mom demands. She stares her husband down.

"Because he's my son and I love him, no matter what he does or is." Dad stands beside her. Maybe he really can stop this.

Mom shakes her head. "I've never been more disappointed in my entire life."

Those words shock Alec even more. His eyes are wide as Mom stares at him for a long time. She pushes past Dad then, and storms out of the library. And then the front door slams shut.

"Maryse!" Dad calls, his eyes wide. He quickly follows her out.

Alec is still frozen, and I can tell that Magnus blames himself for this. It's not this fault. It's Mom's.

But can I even call her my mother? I love her, but I love Alec more, and if she can't support her own son...

"Shit." I say.

"I should go," says Magnus, biting down on his lower lip. He stands up. "I'll talk to you later." Magnus adds, looking at Alec, and then he leaves.

The first thing I need to do is find my parents. If Mom blows up in the middle of the street, it won't be good. And somebody needs to put her in her place—and Dad sure as hell won't do it. Clary won't. Alec won't. And Isabelle isn't here right now. So I decide to go.

I tap Clary's wrist. "I'm going to go after my parents." I tell her. I hesitate before adding, "I don't think it's best for you to be inside of the house right now."

"Okay." Clary says immediately. She understands, and for that I'm glad.

"Could you..." I hesitate. I hate having to ask her, but I do anyways. "Could you call Isabelle and let her know what happened?"

I don't want Isabelle to be concerned _right _now. She's just starting to forget Mom's whole thing with Alec, and now that the whole thing has blown up...

Clary nods.

"Thank you." I let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding, and then I hug Clary. She hugs me back briefly, and then I'm out the door.

It takes longer than I had expected to find my parents. Mom must have run, because I go at least three blocks before I find them—and to my surprise, they aren't yelling. Not at the moment, anyway.

Mom looks absolutely pissed, and Dad is trying to calm her down by the time I reach them.

"What the _hell _was that?" I snarl.

I lose my shit the second I catch up to them. I had been planning to keep calm, but the minute I see my mother that all goes straight to hell.

"Jace!" says my mother, astonished. Until today, I have never cussed in front of her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I ignore her chide. "Whether you agree with Alec's sexuality or _not_, you don't get to talk to him like that!"

"He's my son and I can talk to him however I'd like." Mom declares. "However, _you _are not allowed to speak to _me _like you just did."

Every bone in my body itches to punch her in the face. Dad backs up a space, but I'm too pissed to notice much.

"You are _not _my mother." I take a step toward her, staring her down. "Mothers are supposed to love their children _equally, _no matter what they do or _who _they are."

I stand there, huffing from the running and the anger pulsing through my body, and my mother stands with her eyes wide and full of tears as she stares at me.

What I said was too much. It was harsh. But I will not take it back. It's already been said. She can't take back what she said to Alec—and so I will not take back what I said to her.

"Jace—" she starts, her tone softer, but she's interrupted by a phone.

It's Dad's. He fishes it out of his pocket, and his eyes bulge when he catches the caller ID. A second later the phone is against his ear, and he asks, "Hello?"

My mother's phone rings, too. She pulls it out of her own pocket and holds the phone up to her ear with a shaking hand.

I stand there, completely clueless, waiting for one of them to hang up and inform me of what's going on.

Dad hangs up first. He looks at my mother with something I have _never _seen before, and then he looks at me. "We have to get back to the house." he says.

I frown. "What? Why? What happened?"

"We need to get to the hospital." Mom agrees. Her phone is down and her eyes are full of tears. "Come on."

"Can somebody please _freaking _tell me what is going on?" I say loudly. Only I don't say 'freaking.'

Both of my parents ignore my language, but Dad answers my question. "It's Alec," he answers me. They hurry back toward the house faster than I've ever seen. "The hospital called about him—he overdosed on pills."

I stop.

"Jace, come _on," _urges Mom.

I _told _him. I had _told _Alec something like this was going to happen and the fact that he ignored me although I was right makes me want to scream and yell.

I might lose my brother because he was too stupid to listen.

"Jace." Dad says. His hand grabs my arm and drags me along.

I'm in a daze as I sit in the car. I think Mom sobs once or twice, and all that I can think is that Alec is stupid and that this is all my mother's fault, and I have a strange urge to punch something or throw myself out of the car.

If Alec dies, I will _never _forgive myself for not doing more. I should have done something else to prevent Alec from telling Mom and Dad, or I should have done something to stop Mom from blowing up.

Because if Alec does die, I'm leaving this house. I don't care how I'm going to do it, but I am going to leave this house. And I'm willing to bet that Isabelle will never come back either.

* * *

><p><strong>I actually enjoyed writing that. And Jace may have overreacted a bit, but he realises that. But then again, you can't really overreact when your sibling attempts suicide, can you?<strong>


	20. twenty

**Author's Note: So I've decided to blend 21 and part of 22 together, but you still have to wait one more chapter for Clace.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty<strong>

Mom and Dad pull into the hospital parking lot, and the first words out of my mouth are, "Stay here for a while."

And I guess they listen, because by the time I'm out of the car and sprinting toward the building, they still haven't moved. And they still haven't moved when I look back as I enter the main building.

I'm out of breath as I scramble inside of the hospital. The first person I see is Clary. Then I see my sister, and Max, and then Simon and Magnus.

"Where is he?" I demand.

"He's in the ER." Isabelle tells me. "They're doing everything they can, Jace."

"It probably isn't enough." I grit my teeth. They can't undo what happened. So it will never be enough. "_God. _I want to kill something."

"So do I." Isabelle says immediately.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" asks Max worriedly.

Sometimes, I forget that he's only ten. And I kind of feel bad for making them wait in the car for a while. I rub the back of my neck and say, "They're on their way. They'll be here shortly."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Max squeeze Clary's hand, and Clary's body relaxes. How can she relax at a time like this? I'm losing my mind. Alec has to be okay. He _has _to be.

I don't sit down, because all I want to do is sit next to my sister, and both seats beside her are filled by Simon and Max. However, Simon soon stands up and sits next to Clary, and I take his seat immediately.

Max sits in Isabelle's lap then, and Isabelle winds her arm around our little brother. He looks as bad as I feel.

Magnus does, too. To me, he's part of this family now. And he will stay part of this family, no matter what my mother says.

"I can't believe her." Isabelle mutters. "I can't _believe _her."

"How bad was it?" Max asks curiously. He looks at me.

"It was so bad, Max." I rub my eyes. "It was awful."

"Maybe Mom is the bad guy."

He sounds so upset and defeated that I nearly want to cry. And I _never _want to cry.

"This is my fault." Magnus groans to himself. "This is all my fault."

"If you're blaming yourself because of what my mother said, then you can stop right now." I tell him sternly. "Don't listen to her. Everything she said was shit."

Magnus shakes his head, but he doesn't speak again. I rub my hand over my face. This is the worst.

I hadn't noticed that Simon and Clary were gone, but as I look around the waiting room I realise that they _are _gone—and that my two siblings, Magnus, and I are the only people left inside the waiting room.

"I hate just sitting here." Isabelle complains. She rubs Max's shoulder. "I wish we could do something instead of just _waiting _for the doctors to save our brother."

"If they even manage to save him." I mutter.

Isabelle's eyes bore into mine. "They _will _save him."

I wish I could sound as certain as she does.

"Seriously, though." Isabelle frowns. "I expected Mom and Dad to be here by now. Where the hell—er, heck—are they?"

"I rode with them." I say. "But I told them to wait in the car for a while. I figured you wanted to cool off before you saw them."

She half-smiles dryly. "You know me so well, twin brother."

It's relieving that we can still joke around despite waiting to find out if Alec will be okay. Even Magnus cracks a smile at that—and I realise the importance of family right there.

We sit in silence for the next few minutes, with Isabelle rubbing Max's shoulder every once in a while.

Then I remember what I had been planning to ask a while ago. "Who _found _Alec?" I look over at Isabelle.

Isabelle blinks at me, and then she frowns. "You mean you don't know?"

I shake my head.

"It was—" starts Isabelle.

"A nurse is coming." Magnus interrupts, nodding at a woman in blue scrubs heading toward us.

Clary and Simon join us again at the same time the nurse does.

"Okay..." says the nurse. She glances at all of us. "Which one of you made the call?"

"Uh," says Clary. She slowly raises her hand. "That would be me."

Clary made the call? Was she there when whoever found Alec found him?

"So you're Clary?" asks the nurse.

Clary says, "Yeah."

The nurse takes a deep breath. "Well, Clary, you saved that young man's life."

I inhale sharply. _Clary _saved Alec. Isabelle looks over at me and nods slowly.

Clary saved Alec.

"When you called, you reported that you tried to puke up some of the pills by yourself—is that correct?" the nurse continues.

Clary nods.

"If you hadn't done that—or if you had gotten to him any later—, Alec would not have survived," says the nurse.

That sinks in. Clary _saved my brother. _It was _Clary. _

"He's stable." the nurse continues. "All levels are normal, and we've gotten all of the remnants of the pills out before they reached his digestive system. His room is the last one down that hall. You can see him anywhere from now until visiting hours close at ten."

The nurse leaves.

Isabelle hugs Clary tightly. "Clary," she breathes, "you saved Alec's life. How can I thank you?"

"You don't have to." Clary reassures my sister, hugging her back. "I'm just glad he's okay."

Max beams widely and throws his arms around Clary. "You kept your promise." he whispers to her. He sounds so happy.

Magnus hugs Clary next, and then pulls back.

But I can only stare at Clary with wide eyes. "You were the one who found Alec?" I ask her, just to be completely sure.

Clary nods.

_I want to hear the whole story. _"I—" I begin.

But Mom and Dad rush into the hospital room, cutting me off.

"Where is he?" Mom demands immediately. She's out of breath, and so is Dad. "Where's Alec? Is he okay?"

"_You _don't get to know." Isabelle snarls. "Why should you care?"

Mom's eyes widen. "Isabelle, Alec is my son. Of course I care."

I should have taken a separate car from them. But Mom and Dad would have come no matter what—I only stalled it.

But not enough. Isabelle's still pissed.

"Really?" my sister's hands fly to her hips and she glares at Mom. "You're the reason he tried to _kill _himself!"

I don't want this whole thing blowing up. "Izzy," I say, squeezing my sister's shoulder. "Isabelle, let it go for now."

Mom takes the moment to sink into a hospital chair, burying her face in her hands. Dad sits in a chair beside Max, and my brother crawls into Dad's lap like he used to when he was little.

"The nurse said we could see Alec." Clary reminds us, clearing her throat. "So...who wants to go first?"

"Magnus," replies Isabelle. "And you."

I watch Clary blink. "Me?"

"He wouldn't be here if it weren't for you." Isabelle states. "So, yes, you."

"_You're _his family," replies Clary, "and he probably isn't even awake. So you go."

My sister bites her lip, clearly unsure. I look at Simon—he's leaning forward to whisper in Isabelle's ear. And whatever Simon says makes Isabelle decide. She sighs and leaves the waiting room with Magnus and Simon.

"Thank you," says Dad to Clary a second later. His eyes are teary. "For saving my son."

"Of course." Clary replies. Dad smiles and rests his cheek on Max's head.

I step toward Clary. "Hey, Clary?" I ask her. "Can I speak to you?"

"Uh," says Clary, "okay."

I reach for her hand and lead her to the room across from where we were. It's empty. And when I stop walking, I don't let go of Clary's hand.

My head is swimming. "You saved my brother."

Clary nods.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I whisper. "Please."

"I..." Clary hesitates and my heart pounds inside of my chest. I watch her expression nervously.

Is she going to tell me?

And then she starts to speak.

* * *

><p><strong>The one thing that sucks is that I literally can't do cliffhangers with this story because if you get impatient you can literally just go read Project Marriage if you haven't already...but then again it almost <em>is <em>a cliffhanger because this one's in jace's pov_  
><em>**


	21. twenty one

**Author's Note: Hello!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty One<strong>

"After you ran out after your parents, I called Isabelle and told her what happened—about the yelling." Clary starts to tell me what happened. I'm aware that my hand is still in hers, but I don't want to let go of it. "She suggested that Max and I stay at Simon's for the weekend, until things cooled down."

That was a smart idea on Isabelle's behalf. "And what did you say to her?" I ask.

"I said okay. Then I went into your room and put together a bag."

But I furrow my eyebrows. If she had been in my room, how could she have...? "Where did you find Alec?"

"I'm getting to that," replies Clary. Her voice is nothing but gentle. "After I packed my bag, I left your room and went into Max's room to tell him to pack a backpack. But before we left, I remember that I forgot my phone charger."

"Your phone charger is...in my bathroom." I'd remembered seeing it there before, because the USB plug was pink. It stood out to me and I had nearly laughed at it because it was pink. My eyes widen, because if she'd forgotten her phone charger that meant... "Alec was..."

"So when I went back into your room, I realised that the door was shut. And I hadn't shut the door when I left it." Clary continues to speak.

Part of me doesn't want to hear this.

"But I stepped inside and your bathroom door was closed, too. I thought that was odd, so I opened it, and..." she hesitates. "And Alec was on the floor."

Clary swallows. I realise that this might not be the best time to ask her to explain the whole thing again, because she might be as worried as I am, but I need to hear this. I need to know what happened.

"He had an empty bottle of pills in his hand." she says.

I shut my eyes. The room spins.

"They were Digoxin pills." Clary adds. "They—"

"Slow down your heart rate." I finish for her, feeling suddenly weak. "Mom has heart problems."

"I dialled nine-one-one and put my phone on speaker. And then...I tried to make Alec throw up some of the pills."

"The nurse said that you did." I remember. I still don't open my eyes. "How?"

"I put two fingers in his mouth and tried to put enough pressure on the back of his throat that he would puke."

"And he did."

"Yes, he did."

"The nurse said you saved him." I recall. "If it weren't for you..."

But I don't finish, because I don't want to say the words out loud. Clary doesn't finish my sentence either.

I'm still holding Clary's hand as I inhale, exhale, and then open my eyes to wide green ones.

"I can never thank you enough." I say. My heart is pounding. I have to tell her. "Clary, I..."

"You don't have to thank me." Clary interrupts. Her eyes lock on mine. "I would do it again in a heartbeat, Jace."

_It's now or never._

"I love you." I say.

Clary stiffens. "What?"

"I love you." I say it again. "And...and I'm _not _just saying it because you saved my brother and I think that I love you. I really, _really _love you. I know I do."

She doesn't say anything right away. Was this a mistake? Should I not have told her? All I could think about was _Clary saved my brother. _If it weren't for her, Alec might—no, _would_ be dead right now.

And now that I'd finally mustered up the courage to tell the girl I was in love with that I _loved _her, I might have messed it all up.

But then Clary kisses me.

I note that she didn't say she loved me back, but for some reason I don't care. The kiss is enough for me.

I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her back. How long have I wanted this? To be able to kiss her? It's been so long that I can't even remember.

I pull away first, only because I can't breathe. And by the look of Clary's flushed face and the sound of Clary's breathing, I can tell that she can't either.

"I also realise how bad of timing this is." I say, half-smiling. "And like I said earlier, I'm not just telling you that I love you because you saved Alec."

"So you...you love me." Clary says.

I nod.

She blushes. "This whole time I thought you only liked me as a friend."

She's kidding. Isn't she? I bite my lip to hide my smile. "This whole time _I _thought you only liked me as a friend."

Clary covers her mouth. "You're kidding."

"I'm as serious as I can be."

"We must be daftly oblivious." she laughs.

"We _are _daftly oblivious." I agree, laughing too. Clary rests her forehead against my shoulder as she laughs, and I love now normal it feels.

I kiss the side of her head gently. "We should probably get back to the waiting room." I comment. "If Alec is awake, Simon will probably be back to tell us. If not, then Izzy, Magnus, _and _Simon will all be back."

And I need to hold Isabelle back from Mom.

"Okay." Clary agrees. I reach down and lace my fingers through hers. This is surreal. I feel like this is a dream.

Once we reach the waiting room, I find that Simon, Magnus, and Izzy are not back, but that Max has fallen asleep in Dad's lap. He used to do that all the time when he was a baby. Back when things were very nice.

Mom looks awful. Her hands are twisting together, and she looks like a nervous wreck. I almost feel bad for her. But then I don't.

And I'm anxious. I want Alec to wake up. I know that he's all right physically, according to the nurse, but that doesn't mean that he's one-hundred percent okay.

I sit next to Clary in a chair and let go of her hand, but I still want contact. So I slide my arm around her shoulders.

"I really hate waiting." I comment quietly to Clary alone.

"So do I," she answers, letting her head fall on my shoulder. I rest my cheek against her hair with a silent sigh. "But good things come to those who wait."

She did not. "Are you literally going all old-quote on me?"

"Maybe I am." Clary retorts with a laugh.

I laugh too. Despite the whole mood of the scenario, laughing still feels like the best thing in the world.

"Oh!" says Clary suddenly, sitting up. What? I furrow my eyebrows at her in confusion. "Jonathan is visiting," she explains.

Oh. "When?"

"Sometime soon." she replies. "I called him and told him about Alec and he wants to see him. Mary's coming, too. So I expect Dad will invite us over for dinner soon."

"Sounds good to me." I shrug. Jon's cool and I'm glad he's visiting. Even with Mary. She's a really nice girl. And I'll be meeting Clary's dad for the first time... I grin. "As long as I get to introduce myself as your boyfriend."

She raises her eyebrows at me. "Is that what you are?"

"Is that where you want me to be?" I ask back.

Clary looks away immediately, her face a dark red. She's cute when she blushes, I note, and I almost feel like teasing her more just to see it more often. "Yes, it is."

She returns the grin I give her.

"I'm guessing Alec's not awake, then?" Dad questions, surprising me. But when I look up, I see that my sister has entered the waiting room with Magnus and Simon beside her.

"Alec's awake." Isabelle replies. If he's awake, then why is she here?

But I find out a second later. She looks at Clary and says, "And he's asking for you."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope y'all like Jace's POV...<strong>

**Also, I've only got one more chapter pretyped for this story. So the updates might come a tad bit slower in the near future...**


	22. twenty two

**Author's Note: Look! I'm finally updating! Is the world ending or something? This is insanity.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Two<strong>

Clary leaves the waiting room. She's definitely nervous, but why? It's just my brother. Alec wouldn't want to yell at her. She saved his life. Right?

"So." Isabelle gives me a pointed look. "Are you and Clary together now?"

I feel myself blush. "Uh...maybe."

"Jace!" my sister hits my arm. "Give me a straight answer!"

"Yes, Mom," I say sarcastically, and Isabelle hits my arm again. "Yes, Isabelle. We're together."

"Finally." Simon mutters.

I frown at him. "What do you mean, 'finally'?"

"Anyone could see that you two were clearly in love with each other." Magnus agrees, rolling his eyes. "It was just a matter of time before you said it."

"You _did _tell her you love her, right?" Isabelle asks pointedly, giving me a look.

"Yes, Izzy." One of these days, I swear she's going to go crazy over my relationship with Clary. She even gave us a ship name. It's Clace. I don't even know what a ship is!

"And she said it back, _right?"_

"Uh...that would be a no."

"No?" Isabelle demands. "Why wouldn't she say it back? She's obviously in love with you."

"I don't know, Isabelle. And quite frankly, I'm not worried about it." I shake my head at my sister. "I'm just happy that she kissed me back."

"You _kissed—"_

"I will cover your mouth with my hand." I threaten her, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Isabelle glares at me. "And I'll lick your hand."

"That doesn't bother me, sissy."

"Don't call me sissy."

"Don't squeal over my relationship."

"Hmph." she mutters, sitting down in a waiting room chair. Simon sits next to her, and Magnus begins to walk across the room nervously.

"Did you get a chance to talk to him?" I reach out, stopping Magnus briefly.

"No." he admits. "I was terrified to. This whole thing—it feels like my fault."

"It's _not _your fault." I stand up. "Magnus, if I were to put the blame on anyone, it would be my mother." I lower my voice so no one except for Magnus can hear it. "Alec's always wanted my mother's approval. And the fact that she gave him the direct opposite...he wouldn't have taken it well whether he was with you or with a girl, but I think he took it worse because he's gay. It's been a struggle for him, and honestly? If you hadn't been with him, I'm starting to think he would have taken his own life a lot sooner."

The realisation dawns on me. I really do think that. Sure, Alec is happy when he's around Isabelle and Max and I, but he's never going to be happy all the time. And it scares me.

"Thanks, Jace," says Magnus quietly. "I needed that."

I nod, patting his shoulder comfortingly. Then I sit back down, and Magnus resumes pacing.

We wait outside for a while. Dad gets up once to go to the bathroom, and he hands Max to Isabelle. Isabelle wraps her arms around our little brother and he still sleeps peacefully.

I make a decision right then and there. If Max is ever gay or he's not as smart as the rest of us, or if he stands out in any way, I will be there for him. I will never let him down. Isabelle won't, and I know for _sure _that Alec won't, either. I won't let something happen to him the way I let something happen to Alec.

God, this family is a mess.

Clary walks into the room around five minutes later, a fading smile on her face. I guess that means her time with Alec went well, and I'm glad.

"What did Alec say?" Magnus asks, his eyebrows furrowing in worry. I see his hands shake slightly. "Is he okay? Did he say anything about me? Is he mad at me?"

"Magnus, calm down," says Clary softly.

"When I was in there, I..." Magnus inhales. "I kind of didn't say—"

"I know," she says. "Alec told me."

"Oh."

I glance at my mother, who is looking up and watching Clary and Magnus intently. I can almost see what she's thinking. Oh, God. She's going to—

"I also think that you should go in there." Clary adds to Magnus. "Have some time alone with him. Say what you want to and _mean _it, Magnus."

Shit.

"He isn't going in there again when I haven't even seen my son." Mom states. She stands up. Dad looks like he's about to throw up.

"He's not your son." Isabelle snarls.

Double shit.

I watch as Simon takes Max gently from Isabelle and keeps my brother in his lap. Perfect timing; Isabelle stands up from her seat.

"Oh, shit," says Magnus quietly.

Oh shit is right.

"What part of you _thinks _Alec even wants to see you?" my sister snaps at Mom, taking a step forward. I stand up from my own chair, outstretching my hand to grab Isabelle's arm. The last thing we need is for Isabelle to go ape-shit on my mom.

(It'd be funny, but we don't need it.)

Mom blinks once, and then Isabelle continues. "_You _caused this. When Alec told you he was gay, and in a relationship with _another _gay—"

"Bisexual." Magnus corrects quietly. I almost laugh. "But it doesn't matter."

"—guy, he was _opening _up to you." Isabelle barges on. "And what did you do in return? You screamed at him about how you didn't like what he was doing and how you were disappointed." Not to mention that Mom called him a disgrace to our family. "So he went and tried to _overdose, _and if weren't for Clary he would be dead right now!"

I glance over at Clary, who pales slightly. I can tell that she didn't want to be brought into the conversation, but as Isabelle says the words, my heart warms a little bit more. I can still barely believe that she saved my brother.

"So if any part of you thinks that Alec wants to see you right now, you squash it." Isabelle uses her menacing tone that even makes me want to run away from her. She glares at Mom, more angrily than I've ever seen Isabelle glare at someone in my life. "Because Alec sure as hell doesn't want to see you. And I don't think he ever will."

"Go, go, go." Clary whispers at Magnus, pushing him toward the waiting room doors. "Just go to Alec."

Magnus pretty much runs out of the room. I would, too, but I'm just too busy watching Isabelle as she whips around, storming back to her chair. She sits down, and her eyes are cold as she watches Mom, who is staring right back at Isabelle with wide, shocked eyes.

I groan and sit back down. "I am _so _done with this family."

"I'll be right back." Clary says. I can't tell if she's speaking to me or not, but she leaves our waiting room and I watch as she enters the other one, across the hall. She pulls out her phone and dials a number, and then I look away.

"Clary just witnessed one of the worst arguments this family has had and she didn't run away screaming." Dad muses, looking a little surprised. He looks up at me. "Jace, you marry that girl."

I crack a small smile. Even Isabelle's lost the majority of her anger. She looks amused.

"I plan to." I say, more to myself than anyone else.

And I mean it.

* * *

><p><strong>You know what I'm thinking of doing? I'm thinking of finishing this story up, and then posting the epilogue to Project Carrot at the same time as Project Marriage. What do you guys think? Does that sound okay?<strong>

**Also, I've got a new story up! It's called Nine Steps Back, and I'm super proud of it so far, so read it if you'd like and tell me what you think!**

**On my profile, I've got a link to a review of this story and Project Marriage, written by the lovely kelpie169 on her blog, if you'd like to read that.**

**I'll update soon, hopefully. Thanks for still sticking with me :-)**


	23. twenty three

**Author's Note: Hi again! **

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Three<strong>

Finally, after even Mom and Dad go see Alec, I walk into his hospital room.

My brother is sitting in his hospital bed, and he doesn't look as sick as I expected him to. I watch him grin as he notices me.

"Jace! My favourite brother!" he says cheerfully. "Come on in."

"Don't let Max hear you call me that." I say, laughing slightly as I sit down next to his bed. "How are you?"

"Don't do that." Alec is still smiling, but his tone is slightly more serious.

"Do what?" I frown at him.

"Ask me that. Do you know how many times I've been asked that question?" he doesn't wait for me to answer. "Six times. Even _Max _asked me. The only person who didn't ask me would be Clary."

"Okay, then I take my question back." I sit back in the chair, and Alec's smile widens a little bit. "So you're alive."

"I am."

"And you're aware that if you ever try to do that again, I'll personally end your life, correct?"

"I am."

"Good." I grin at my older brother. "Then we understand each other."

Alec throws his head back and laughs—he laughs harder than I've ever actually heard him laugh in maybe forever. And it's so refreshing.

So Alec and I sit there, him in his hospital bed and IV, and me in the guest's chair, and I can't even begin to tell you what we laugh at. Honestly? I don't think we're laughing at anything. I think it's just the stress and tension of the situation that we're getting rid of, and it feels good to get something off my chest.

"I regret it more than anything, man," says Alec after a while. He stares down at his hands, eyes serious. "I'm so glad Clary saved me. I mean, I obviously wouldn't have been able to think about it if I _had _died, but..."

"I would have cried. And you _know _I don't cry."

Alec smiles again. "That's true. You don't. I would come back from the grave just to see you crying."

"Funny." I say dryly. "Actually, I think visiting hours are over. The nurse only let me come in to say hi because I'm your brother and...you know, you almost died and stuff."

Alec leans forward, patting my shoulder. "I get it. You hate me."

"Alec—"

"I'm kidding, little bro." his smile is half-hearted. "But I'm pretty tired, too. Just promise me you'll be here when they release me from this hellhole, okay?"

"I promise." I stand up, flashing a smile back at him. "See you later, Alec."

"Bye, Jace," he replies. When I look back at him, just before leaving the room, he's leaned back against the pillows, eyes closed. It scares me to realise how close I was to losing my older brother.

I leave the room.

* * *

><p>Clary and I and Max go with Mom and Dad back home. Max sleeps with his head on Clary's shoulder. Clary looks over and smiles at me, and I smile back. My parents say nothing in the front seat. If it weren't for Clary, I would have rather walked home.<p>

It's still silent as we park in the garage. Clary lifts my little brother up into her arms and carries him inside. A small part of me envisions her walking into a home one day, carrying _our _son with her.

I must really be in love with her.

Clary enters Max's bedroom and I go straight into mine, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I stand when she enters. Clary looks as worn out as I feel.

"Hey." I say to her. She looks up, her sparkling emerald eyes locking with my tawny ones. I reach out and pull her against my body, hugging her close, burying my face in her neck.

"Are you okay?" Clary's arms come around my back, hugging me back.

"I can't even look at my bathroom." I say into her hair. "Much less go in it. Why did Alec go in my bathroom? He could have chosen any of them."

"Only Alec knows the answer to that, Jace," she says softly. I feel her put her chin on my shoulder. "But I would say something like out of all the places for you to look for him, you would look in your own room last."

I don't answer her, but I realise she's right.

"So you don't have to go into your bathroom." she promises me. "But you should get some sleep."

"I won't be able to sleep tonight." I tell her.

"Just try."

I sigh, removing my arms from around her and stepping away. "Okay." I slip into bed after kicking off my shoes, and the bed dips slightly as Clary slips in beside me.

It takes me a moment, but I whisper to her in the darkness. "Thank you for my brother," I say.

She doesn't reply. Or maybe she does. But I fall asleep a moment later, and I don't hear anything after that.

* * *

><p>I get up early in the morning and sit in the library. I hear Mom and Dad arguing in the kitchen, but I'm so far away that it's muffled. I can't hear distinct words—and to be honest, I don't want to.<p>

They argue for a while, but I eventually tune them out. I zone out until I look up at the clock and realise that Clary must be awake, so I head back to my bedroom.

She's awake, and by the looks of it, she just woke up. She changed out of her clothes from last night, too. And I still am in love with her.

"Hey," I say, smiling softly at her.

"Sleep well?" Clary smiles slightly back at me.

"More or less." I nod. "How about you?"

Clary shrugs, her shoulders lightly rising. I smile again.

"So I called my dad last night," she says nonchalantly. She sits on the edge of my bed. "And I asked him if you and I could stay at his house for the rest of the project."

I blink at her. Wait, what?

"I figured it would be awkward in the house for a while," she adds hastily. Clary wrings her hands. "Because of what happened."

"What did your dad say?"

"He said yes. So, if you want to go..."

"Yes." I say. "I'd like to go." I'd _love _to go, actually. "When do we leave?"

Clary's grin is sheepish. "Today, actually."

"Well, I better pack." I laugh. "And so should you."

"Good idea." she muses.

"Just one thing first." I reach out, wrapping my fingers around her waist. I pull her against my body and kiss her shortly. "Good morning."

Clary blushes. She smiles. "Good morning."

* * *

><p>I leave my room to go put my own bag in Clary's car. When I come back, Max is in the room too, talking to her, so I knock in case I'm interrupting a conversation. "Ready?" I ask.<p>

"Yup." Clary lifts her bag. I pull the door open, Max exiting first, and then Clary follows me to the garage. "Jon's got a car at the house that you can drive occasionally," she says, setting her bag next to mine in the back seat.

"So I have to subject to _your _driving until the project is over?" I mock-groan.

"Oh, you love my driving." she grumbles.

"Yeah, yeah."

Clary laughs at me, getting into the driver's seat of her car while I get into the passenger's seat. "You realise that you'll be meeting my dad as my boyfriend, right? That's what we agreed on."

She backs out of my garage as I grin at her. "I'm aware."

"Are you nervous?" she inquires.

"Not really, no," I admit.

"Good." Clary smiles as she continues driving. "Then you should know that if we break up, my dad will burn you alive."

My grin falls. Is she serious? Oh, God. Her dad's going to kill me. She's probably serious.

Clary laughs. "_Jeez_, Jace, lighten up! I'm kidding."

"Uh, yeah." I say slowly. "I knew that."

"You did _not_."

"I did too!" I argue. I feel like a child, arguing like this with my girlfriend. "I only pretended to look freaked for your amusement."

"Well," says Clary, "I am amused."

"Good." I answer. "That was my intention."

Clary shakes her head, snorting. "Actually, I don't know what my dad will do. I've never had a boyfriend before, so this is kind of new territory."

She's blushing, I notice, as we stop at a stoplight. She glances over at me, looks away, and then looks back, frowning. "What?"

What did she mean by new territory? I'm slightly smiling. Does that mean...

"I'm your first boyfriend?"

"Uh...yeah. That's what I just said."

"So I was your first kiss?"

"Yes, Jace," she presses on the gas lightly, turning right when the light turns green. "And you'll probably be my other firsts, too."

I laugh out loud as her face turns even redder. "You're laughing at me," she grumbles, glancing at me.

"I am not!" Okay, that's a lie. I'm still laughing.

"You are _so _not making this easy."

"I will never make things easy for you." I answer her. "Shouldn't you know this by now?"

Clary shakes her head, rolling her eyes as I continue laughing.

And I'm pretty sure that I continue to laugh until we get to her house.

* * *

><p><strong>Go ahead and review for me, dears! The more you review, the sooner I update, and the closer we get to the epilogue...:-)<strong>


	24. twenty four

**Author's Note: Dear **_**goodness, **_**I am so sorry! I can't believe I forgot about this story, but I promise I'll try to update bunches. I just want to finish this story for you guys. **

**This chapter is chapters 25 and 26 of Project Marriage. They're both filler chapters, and I figure I should combine as many as I can of those so we can get closer to the end and to the epilogues, 'cause I know y'all are waiting for Project Marriage to come to a close.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Four<strong>

I'm not nervous. You're nervous.

Clary parks in her driveway. We don't say anything until the two of us grab our bags from the backseat, when Clary glances over at me. "Ready?" she asks.

I snort. "Of course I'm ready."

She doesn't look convinced as she pushes the door open to her home. It's nice and neat on the inside—which is completely different compared to mine. "Dad?" Clary calls. "You home?"

"Clary?" a man's voice calls from somewhere in the house. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." she answers.

The man enters the room, and he looks nothing like I imagined. His hair is white-blond, and it's greying, and his eyes are black. If Jonathan didn't have blond hair, I would never have guessed that this man is Clary's father.

"It's so good to see you again," says Clary's dad, hugging her. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright." Clary pulls away, shrugging. "I want to introduce you to someone."

Her father looks at me. I wave awkwardly. Yup. This is the moment. Am I going to die or live?

"Jace, this is my father, Valentine." Clary tells me. "Dad, this is my...boyfriend, Jace."

Valentine's eyes widen a fracture and my stomach flips. I grab Clary's hand. I am a dead man walking.

She called me her boyfriend. Yeah, I am definitely not used to that yet.

Valentine sticks his hand out to me. "It's nice to meet you, Jace. I've heard a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope." I look at Clary.

"Most things he knows about you are from before the project." Clary tells me. Well, shit. "But some good things."

Valentine laughs.

"Has Jon called you?" my girlfriend turns toward her father.

"No." Valentine is frowning. "Should he?"

"He's visiting for a little bit. He'll need a place to stay."

"You should talk to him about it." Valentine suggests. "I was planning on ordering pizza for lunch. I can go do that and you can go call your brother."

"Do you order pizza every day for lunch?" Clary demands. Judging by her tone, I assume that Valentine can't cook.

"No." Valentine defends himself. "I occasionally order Chinese food, as well."

Yeah, I'm probably right.

"C'mon, Jace," says Clary, tugging on my hand. "I'll show you around the house."

I follow her up the stairs silently. I look down at her fingers, laced through mine, and I smile. "Your dad's nice," I say.

"Yeah." Clary agrees. "Okay," she adds, pointing to each room as she explains. "That's the bathroom. That's my..._er, _that was my parents' bedroom. That's the guest room, that's Jon's room. And this is my room."

She pushes the door open and I see a blue-painted room, dotted with loads of sketches on paper that are tacked. I'm drawn to a particular drawing—one of the skyline of Manhattan—and I ask, "Did you draw these?"

"Yeah." Clary blushes, rubbing the back of her neck. "I drew all of them."

"They're beautiful." I breathe, looking around at the other drawings.

"Thanks." she answers. I smile at her in return. "I'm actually going to do as my dad suggested," says Clary. "Give me five minutes to talk to Jon about staying here."

"All right." I set my bag on the floor and watch her leave the room, pulling her phone out as she does so.

I look around her bedroom again, absolutely enamoured by the drawings and paintings up on her wall. I reach toward the picture of Manhattan again as a voice makes me jump from the door.

"What do you like on your pizza, Jace?" Valentine says from the doorway, holding a phone in his hand.

"I'll eat anything." I answer, shrugging.

Valentine steps into the room. He looks at the drawings around his daughter's room and smiles. "You love them too, huh?"

"She never told me she could draw." I say.

"She keeps a lot of things to herself." Valentine agrees. He glances at me. "I don't think I have to tell you that I'll kill you if you break her heart."

"No, sir." I respond.

"Good." Valentine nods. "So, pepperoni?"

* * *

><p>I sit down at the kitchen table across from Clary's father as he places the pizza box in the middle. Clary comes down the stairs minutes later, her red curls bouncing.<p>

"I'm getting Jon and Mary from the airport later." she tells Valentine, sitting down. "They've agreed to stay here."

"Perfect." Valentine grins at her.

"Do you want to come with?"

"Nah, that's fine." he says as I grab a piece of pizza, taking a large bite. "I'll fix up Jon's room for them. It's just as messy as it was when he last left." Valentine looks at his daughter and she laughs.

"Then do you want to come?" she looks at me.

I can tell she's almost annoyed, because her nose wrinkles ever-so-slightly since there's about half a piece of pizza in my mouth. It's not my fault! This is really good pizza. "Sure." I say around a mouthful. "I'd love to."

I grin slightly at her, and she grins back. "Thanks for lunch, Dad," she adds, looking at her dad once again. "I know how hard it was to call and order the pizza."

Valentine laughs. "I know. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I didn't know if I would survive."

His sarcasm is clear, and I laugh along with Clary. We don't talk much for the rest of lunch, and once we finish the pizza, I follow my girlfriend into her room to unpack our bags.

"You seem happier here already." I say, putting my clothes into a drawer.

"I feel happier here." Clary agrees, and then adds hastily, "No offense."

"None taken." I laugh. I can understand; my family can be extremely hectic most of the time. "If you're happy, then I'm happy."

I step over to her and kiss her. It lasts for about a minute until Clary mutters, "We should keep unpacking," against my mouth.

I kiss her cheek and step back, reaching for my bag. It's nearly empty; unpacking didn't take as long as I thought it would. "Do you have any idea when we have to pick Jon up from the airport?"

"He's going to call me when the plane lands." Clary nods. "It won't be much longer, though, I don't think. The flight's just less than two hours."

I put my bag on the floor and nod. "Do you know how long they'll be here for?"

"Long enough for Jon to visit Alec a couple of times and catch up with him, though," she says after shaking her head.

"Well, I'm glad they're coming."

"So am I. I think Mary and Isabelle will get along very nicely."

"I think so, too," I say, imagining my sister shopping with Jonathan's girlfriend. "Although I vote we do not join them in the mall at any time."

Clary laughs. "Agreed."

I grin at her as she pulls her phone out, scanning the screen. "And that would be my brother. Their airplane landed."

I reach for my shoes, pulling them on my feet as I smile at her again. "Let's go pick up your brother," I say.

* * *

><p>We reach the airport shortly. Clary pulls up in front of Jonathan and Mary, who are already outside. As soon as she puts the car in park, I get out of the passenger's side to help them with their bags.<p>

"Nice to see you again, Jace." Mary says, smiling at me. "How are you?"

"I'm good." I smile back. "What about you?"

"I'm good." she lets me take her bag and I put it in the trunk as Jonathan joins me, setting his other bag next to hers.

"Hey, Jace. How's the project going?"

"It's going good. We still have a couple months of it left, though." I say, shrugging. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'll probably miss it when it's over."

Jonathan claps my shoulder and gets into the back seat next to Mary.

When I get in, Clary's talking. "Ready to finally stay at home?" she asks her brother.

"I suppose." Jon sighs. "But you know Dad will convince us both to see Mom."

"I know." Clary sighs, pulling out onto the highway. "How long do you bet we can put that off?"

"It depends on how insistent Dad is. And you'll have Luke bugging you in class every day, too," he points out.

"I thought you got over your thing with your mom." Mary says. That's exactly what I thought, too, but I guess not.

"We did." Jonathan says. "But it'll still be awkward to see her."

That makes sense. It wouldn't be easy.

Clary sighs. "Especially if we'll have to go to Luke's to meet her."

"Agreed." Jonathan sighs too.

I glance over at Clary. She looks a little upset by the topic, but I don't say anything. What do you say? I'm sorry? She's not sad about it. I can't relate to it, either; my parents aren't divorced.

"So, Mary." Clary breaks the silence. " My dad hasn't met you yet, right?"

"Right." Mary answers.

"I've told him about Mary, though." Jonathan says. "You think he'll be glad to know one of his kids is finally dating?"

I exchange a look with my girlfriend and smirk widely. "What?" Jonathan insists. He's frowning.

"Wait." Mary says, making a noise of realisation. "Clary—"

"I'm afraid I beat you by a day, big brother," says Clary cheerfully, grinning. Her grin is contagious—I grin too, keeping my eyes on Clary.

"Damn." says her brother. "I _knew _I should have brought my gun."

"_Jon!" _Clary says angrily. Jonathan says it so seriously, and so casually, that I feel the colour drain from my face. Well, shit.

Mary's laughing as he amends, "I was kidding, Clary. Maybe."

"Oh, give it a rest, Jon." Clary glares at her brother in the rearview mirror. "You're scaring Jace to death."

"No, he's not." I say immediately. She rolls her eyes.

Jonathan and Valentine Morgenstern are two very scary, very intimidating men. Not that I ever plan to hurt Clary in my life, but I make a mental note not to.

When we get to Clary's home, I help with the bags again. Clary and Mary immediately go upstairs, and I spend some time with Clary's brother and father in the kitchen.

"Clary told me that Alec tried to commit suicide." Jonathan says, frowning at me. "Are you okay? That couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't," I say, grimacing. "The worst part was that I had no idea at all at first. Clary found him; she probably told you that."

"She didn't say why."

"Alec's gay." I explain, and Jon nods; whether he suspected or he already knew, I can't tell, but I don't ask, either. "He started dating Magnus Bane, and when he came out about it to my parents, my mom went ballistic and screamed all these things at him and it was...it was pretty bad."

"Maryse can be extremely bitchy." Valentine agrees, and he blanches when I look at him in surprise. "No offense."

"You knew my mom?" I question.

"Yeah, I did. We went to high school together." he tells me. "Your parents, Luke, Jocelyn, and I. But when we graduated, we fell out of touch. One thing I remember about your mother is that she was certainly a piece of work, though."

"Tell me about it," I say, sighing. "I'm just glad that Alec's okay, though. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost him."

We talk for a few more hours, and it's ten o'clock when I go upstairs so Jonathan and his dad can hang out for a little bit longer. Clary's room is dark when I enter it, and through the dark I can barely make out her face, but as I get closer, I see that she's sleeping. Or that she's trying to sleep.

I change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and then I slip into bed beside her. Her eyes snap open before she shuts them again.

"Hey." I whisper quietly. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," says Clary, but her voice is thick and sleepy. She opens her eyes again. "How was your guy thing with my brother and dad?"

"'Guy thing?'" I repeat. I laugh. "It was cool. Nobody shot at me, so I'm good."

"Dang it." she says jokingly. "It's no fun if you don't get shot at."

I roll my eyes. "You're so funny."

"It's a gift."

I lay down all the way, sighing. "Thank God tomorrow's Sunday. I am really not looking forward to going to school."

"Neither am I." Clary sighs too as I slide my arm around her waist. "But the sooner we get back to school, the sooner it's over."

"You're right." I say. "Have you applied anywhere yet?"

"Nope." she answers. "What about you?"

"Nope." I look up at the ceiling and exhale. "And it sucks. I don't know _where _to apply. But maybe if I sleep on it, I'll figure it out in the morning."

"All right." Clary muses. I kiss her cheek.

"Goodnight," I tell her.

"Goodnight." she shifts onto her side.

I shut my eyes, all-but immediately falling asleep. Before I drift off, I think I hear Clary say something, but I'm not sure if I heard what I just did.

Did she just say she loves me? Is that what I heard?

I open my eyes. Clary's back is facing me, but I can tell that she's fallen back asleep. I say, "I love you, too," and like I expected, there's no response.

So I shut my eyes again and fall asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written. Ever. Wow.<strong>

**All right; since that took us to chapter 26 of Project Marriage, we're looking at...eight chapters left until the epilogue at the most? I might mash a couple other chapters together, but it all depends on what happens in each chapter and how much Jace time there is.**

**Review! Also, for those of you who are Malec fans, I have a Malec one-shot up that shows Magnus in Alec's hospital room, if y'all want to read it! **


	25. twenty five

**Author's Note: I write fanfictions way too much.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Five<strong>

Clary and I are the last people in psychology on Monday morning, and we're five minutes early.

It's strange. Very strange. I look around to see everyone, including Jem and Will, in their seats. "What's going on?" Clary frowns, looking at Isabelle.

Isabelle shrugs. "Beats me. We just got here."

"That's odd." I say. I sit down in my desk. "Where's Graymark?"

"No idea." Clary frowns again.

"Do you think we're starting with the baby thing today?" Simon questions. Crap. I totally forgot about that. "It might make sense."

"Maybe," admits Clary. "We'll just have to wait and see."

The bell rings, but Mr. Graymark is still nowhere to be seen. What the hell? What's going on? Five minutes have passed since the bell rang and he still isn't here. "Is he just not here today?" Clary frowns a third time.

"That wouldn't explain why every single student was inside the room five minutes _before _the bell rang." I point out.

"But then this doesn't make _sense." _Izzy complains.

I pull out my phone and play Angry Birds while we wait. If you're judging me right now, you have no right. Angry Birds is a fantastic game. You're just jealous.

"Good morning, class!" says Mr. Graymark, walking into the classroom. He looks too peppy. I put my phone away and look over at him.

"Luke, did you sleep in this morning or something?" Clary raises her eyebrows at him.

Our teacher grins at her. "No. I was just speaking to my friend."

Oh, that's specific. "Your friend from the foster home?" she asks.

"That's the one. Sorry—it took a little longer to drive here than I expected."

"When are we starting that part of the project? With the babies, I mean," adds Tessa.

Mr. Graymark grins wider. "Today, actually. She was ready to start a couple weeks earlier than I expected. There's a school bus waiting downstairs for us."

"Well, that I was unexpected," I say under my breath to Clary. We all stand up.

"Part of me thought it was going to happen today." Clary responds. I take her hand in mine and thread my fingers through hers. "Are you excited?"

Excited? No. More like...nervous. "I don't know the first thing about taking care of a kid." I say.

"Neither do I." Clary reassures me. "But you know what? I think it'll be okay. Plus, Dad can help us if we need it. And I think Mary once mentioned she had a baby brother or sister. She can help, too."

"I've actually never imagined being a father." I keep my voice quiet, almost embarrassedly. "I don't know if I could do it."

"I think you can." Clary tells me. "And besides. This isn't being a father. Not really, anyways. Think of it as...babysitting."

I groan loudly. "I was never good at that either."

I walk down the stairs with her to the busses, and we sit down with Isabelle and Simon behind us and Mr. Graymark in front. "Do you know what I want to know?" Clary says to our teacher. "How did the board approve of this?"

"This way, since psychology is mandatory, they can eliminate Child Development." he tells her. "I have no idea _how _they can eliminate it, but they can. And that provides less payment, since they'll be cutting off a class."

"So they only accepted so they could get off with firing a couple teachers?"

"Precisely."

"That sounds like a school board." Clary muses. We sit in silence for a minute until Luke speaks again.

"Your mother misses you," he says.

"Luke—" Clary starts.

"Just hear me out, Clary, okay? She asked me to tell you this and I'm keeping my promise."

She sighs. "Fine."

"They're finalising the divorce in a week or two. And your mom wants to see you before it ends." Mr. Graymark says.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure." he admits. "But that's just what she wants. I'll understand if you don't want to come to my place and see her, but...just think about it, okay? And tell Jonathan."

"You don't have to worry." she says. "My dad already got to us, and he's definitely not letting it go until we see her."

"Just figure out a good time for you and Jon and then let me know, okay?" our teacher says. I can tell that he doesn't like talking about Valentine.

"Okay." Clary says slowly. "I will."

Luke smiles at her. The bus parks in front of the foster home, and I ask, "So how are we supposed to get the kids from here to our houses?"

"You'll come back here after school today and get him or her." Mr. Graymark speaks loudly, talking to everyone on the bus. "Along with all of the supplies that will be here and all of the information."

The foster home is small and loud, but I can hear a woman's voice clearly as she calls, "Luke? Is that you?"

It's Celine Herondale, and Luke introduces her to Clary. Celine Herondale is Will's aunt, and the dark-haired boy waves at her as he walks past.

"Anyways, right this way," says Celine. "A few of the babies are still napping."

There are fifteen cribs, each with a blue or pink streak depending on whether the baby is a girl or boy. "They're from oldest to youngest." Celine tells us. "And none of them are name. We held back because of the project. The two on the left are newborns. The baby girl on the very right is nearly ten months. They all range in there somewhere."

I watch as Aline and Helen walk to the newborns. I tug on Clary's hand before I lose my courage. "Ready to look?"

"Yeah." Clary says, her eyes fixed on the cribs. She pulls me to one that's in the direct middle; the crib has a blue streak on it and the baby inside is waving his small, pale hand. His eyes are green, like Clary's, his hair is dark blond, and he's giggling like crazy.

"He's about five months old." Celine says on Clary's other side. She's smiling at the baby, too. "He's the happiest baby I've ever seen in my life."

"How could someone abandon a child so young?" Clary sounds appalled.

"Nobody knows." Celine says softly.

"He's cute." I admit. "His cuteness level _might _even dull the annoyance I'll have while he's crying."

Clary cracks a smile. "Yeah."

"So you have to name him." Celine says. "If this is going to be your baby for the next couple of months. And this name will be the name he goes by for his whole life."

"I'll pick his middle name if you pick his first." I say to Clary quietly.

"Deal." Clary looks at the baby. "Jason."

"Alexander." I say.

"Jason Alexander," says Clary, and then she smiles widely. "That's perfect."

* * *

><p>After school, I pick up Jason from the foster home and bring him to the hospital to meet Alec and to make sure he's healthy. Clary's already there, in Alec's room, and after we check up Jason, Clary and I drive home.<p>

Home. I find it odd to call her place that, but that's what it is to me for now.

Jason gurgles in the back seat. If it weren't for the lack of a wedding band, I would have felt like a husband, bringing my son home after spending the day with him. Jason looks like Clary and I enough.

Is that what I want with Clary? There's no point in thinking about it; my answer is yes.

Unless Jason keeps crying all the time. That might be a deal breaker.

* * *

><p>After school on Tuesday, we meet Clary's mother at Panera Bread for dinner. I mostly sit there without saying anything, occasionally making a silly face at Jason whenever he stares at me, and then I smile when he giggles.<p>

Clary excuses herself to refill her drink, and I look over to see a woman speaking with her. The woman blushes and Clary looks a little embarrassed. What could that be about?

Clary's eyes are fixed on Mary as she walks back to the table. Mary is absolutely in love with Jason; from what I've seen, Mary would make a wonderful mother. Though I'm still curious about what the woman asked Clary about, I don't say anything. Clary squeezes my hand and promises, "Later."

"So how's school going?" Jocelyn asks her daughter. "Everything's well? Luke says you've got good grades."

"Yeah." says Clary. "School's fine."

"Have you applied to college anywhere?"

"Not yet. I've been busy with the project."

"I've been _trying _to pressure her to apply at Michigan so we can dorm together for a few years." Jonathan tells Jocelyn. "But she's refusing."

Jocelyn frowns. "Why?"

"I wouldn't be able to get in." Clary pulls her hand off of mine to twist hers together nervously. "Jon's a genius. I'm not. They wouldn't accept me."

"You don't know that." Jocelyn puts her hand over Clary's hesitantly. "You've always been smart."

I don't miss the quick way Clary pulls her hand away from her mother's. "Thanks, Mom," she says; I also don't miss the hurt that flashes in Jocelyn's eyes as Clary does it.

"So Mary." Jocelyn redirects her attention. "What are you studying at Michigan?"

I glance at my girlfriend, who is still looking troubled. "You don't seem very comfortable with your mother," I tell her quietly.

Clary reaches one hand into Jason's carrier and he grabs onto her finger, shaking it. "It's just weird being back with her," she says. "Divorce isn't a good thing in a family."

"I think my parents are considering it." I say before I can stop myself. "Well, Dad might be, anyway."

Clary's emerald eyes go wide. "What?"

"Dad was appalled at what Mom said to Alec the day Alec tried to kill himself." I sigh unhappily. "So I think Dad wants a divorce. Mom definitely doesn't, though. At least, I don't think she does."

"I'm sorry." Clary says. I usually don't like it when people apologise, especially for things that had nothing to do with them. But Clary knows how I'm feeling, because her parents went through the same thing.

"I've been wondering about it for a while, really." I say, shrugging like it's no big deal. I run my finger along the back of Jason's cheek as he looks around and smiles. "And if they do, I don't think it'll affect me. But if they do, I have to be there for Max."

"I'll be there too," says Clary immediately, and her determination nearly makes me smile broadly. "Speaking of Max, we should visit him soon. Take him to a movie or buy him some comics. D'you think he'd like to meet Jason?"

"Max loves babies." I say, nodding. "I think it sounds like a plan. Maybe this weekend?"

"Good idea." Clary smiles. "I miss your little brother."

"I miss him too." I agree. "And I'm sure he'll be delighted to hang out with us for a while." I add, kissing her cheek and smiling back.

"How's your family, Jace?" Jocelyn asks me kindly.

I smile politely. "They're good, thank you."

"I heard about what happened with Alec."

"He's fine now. Actually, they discharged him today."

"Well, that's good." Jocelyn nods. It's a little awkward, but I try to push that aside as I talk to Clary's mother.

She's a nice person, and she looks a lot like Clary; and Clary is a lot like her. I can tell that Jocelyn still feels guilty, because she still glances at Clary carefully, like her daughter is going to start yelling or something any minute.

And suddenly, I feel worried. Because the last time I saw my parents, that's how they looked at me.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter takes us to chapter 29 of Project Marriage, because Jace didn't have much time in those chapters. So now we're looking at five chapters at most before the epilogues! We're getting there, guys! :D<strong>

**P.S. Nine Steps Back update is coming, I swear. I just gotta start typing it first.**


	26. twenty six

**Author's Note: It's been a while since I've updated. Ugh. Sorry, guys.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Six<strong>

"He's so...squishy." my brother wrinkles his nose, staring down at Jason. "Are babies supposed to be that squishy?"

"He's not squishy, kid," I laugh, ruffling Max's hair. "It's called baby fat. You still have a bit of that, you know."

Max scowls at me, ducking away. "I do _not."_

"Yes, you do."

"Clary, do I still have baby fat?" he complains, rounding on my girlfriend. I almost feel like my parents when he does that; Dad says something that Max doesn't like, so he goes to Mom.

"Uh, yeah, Max. You kind of do." Clary says. I grin smugly and she punches my arm. One of these days, she should realise that I don't feel anything when she does that.

Max pokes Jason's face a second time, scrunching his face up. "So how long do you have to take care of him?"

"Until the end of the project." I say.

"So about two months."

I'm about to say something when Clary says, "That's right. Two months."

She must have lost track of time, and I don't blame her; it feels like just yesterday that I was letting Clary into my house at the beginning of the project. Back then, it seemed like everyone loved Clary except for me. Even Mom and Dad did, and they usually never liked any girl associated with me. And speaking of Mom and Dad...

"Where are Mom and Dad?" I frown at my little brother.

Max shrugs. "I'm not sure. They disappear a lot now, actually."

I can't believe them. "So they just leave you here alone?"

"No." he responds. "Alec's here usually, now that he's out of the hospital. But he's with Magnus today, and they'll be back just after you two leave, probably."

I exchange glances with Clary. There's no possible way that my parents aren't getting a divorce now.

"You know what's funny?" Max is looking down at Jason, but he looks up at Clary and I a second later. "If you were to go out in public with Jason, people would probably think he's really yours. His eyes are the same colour as Clary's and his hair is the same colour as yours, Jace."

Clary blushes as she responds, "Uh, yeah...I guess."

Max is right. I hadn't really noticed it before. But for the sake of my girlfriend, whose face is still as red as a tomato, I shake my head. "Nah. If Jason was really Clary and I's son, he'd have her nose. Which is much cuter."

Clary blushes deeper. "Thanks." she rubs the back of her neck and looks away. "I think."

"He's really cute, though." Max muses. "Despite all the squishiness."

I shake my head again, laughing. "I give up."

"Did Isabelle and Simon get a baby too?" he asks.

"Yeah." Clary frowns. "Though I haven't seen the baby either. I think they got a girl."

"I want to meet her." Max says stubbornly, putting his arms over his chest. "She never visits anymore."

"I'm sure she's just busy, Max." Clary reassures him, though as she speaks, I know she knows the real reason. Since Alec was put in the hospital, Izzy has declared a silent war against Mom and Dad. She wants nothing to do with them.

"I don't think that's it." Max mutters.

I sigh. Max is smart for his age; I wish he wasn't. He's only ten, and I wish he didn't have to grow up completely with his parents barely speaking to their other children. Reaching out to ruffle his hair, I promise, "I'll make sure Isabelle visits soon, Max, okay? But Clary and I have to go. We've got to make dinner at her house tonight."

"All right." Max is unhappy as he gives Clary and I a hug. "Come back soon?" he tickles Jason's stomach.

"Of course, Max." Clary smiles. She picks up Jason's carrier and takes him outside.

"Sometimes I worry about Max." I admit, sighing.

"Hey." Clary says softly. "Out of everyone, he's always going to have you." she grabs my hand and squeezes it, letting it go as she sets the baby's carrier in the backseat. "He'll be fine as long as he has someone."

"I hope so." I say quietly, kissing her cheek. Clary gets into the backseat next to Jason. "Thanks for that. I feel like you always know what to say."

"I'm just smart like that." Clary says smugly, and I laugh.

* * *

><p>Jason cries in the middle of the night.<p>

It's maybe one or two, but I don't look at a clock. Instead, I swear under my breath, and I say, "Clary, can you—"

"On it." Clary sighs. She sounds wide awake and any guilt I had of all-but making her get up to soothe him. "I'll be in the living room," she adds, putting her hands into the pack and play to pick Jason up.

I yawn. "'Kay." I answer, rolling over. A minute later, I'm back asleep.

I dream of the house of my grandparents before they died. It was a large house and it was beautiful, and I was so, _so _upset when we had to sell it. It was painted blue and it was two-story with a basement that Izzy, Alec, and eventually Max, and I all played in when we were little.

When I walk into the front door, instead of seeing my grandparents, I see Clary, standing behind the counter making lunch. Sitting at the counter is a little girl with frizzy strawberry-blonde hair and bright green eyes. She kicks her feet impatiently as she hums to the music playing from the stereo. Beside her is a little boy with blond hair and gold eyes, younger than his sister, drinking juice out of a sippy cup as he imitates his sister and kicks his short legs.

It's my house, I realise. My family. Dream-Clary turns to look at me and she opens her mouth to say something, her emerald eyes shining, and then—

The sound of the door opening shakes me awake. Clary walks toward the bed quietly, her weight barely dipping the mattress as she climbs back into bed. I turn back over and put my arm around her waist, and then sleep takes over me again, putting me back into the dream of Clary and the little boy and girl in the blue house.

* * *

><p>I arrive in class with Clary just as the bell rings, and Luke is already standing, biting his lip anxiously.<p>

"So, uh," he says a minute later, looking around at all of us. "As you all know, there are more steps to a marriage than just getting married and having children."

"What else is there?" Tessa Gray inquires.

"Well, sometimes marriages...don't work out," says our teacher carefully. He glances toward Clary. "People get divorces for many reasons."

Oh.

"Like affairs." Clary says, staring right back at him. Luke flinches, but Clary doesn't say anything else or glare at him.

"Yes." says Mr. Graymark. He looks away from my girlfriend. "Or because a couple no longer loves each other."

"What does divorce have to do with this?" asks Kaelie.

He taps the papers on his desk with his fingers. "For the following two weeks, you will go back to your houses. Today in class, we'll figure out a custody agreement for your babies."

I glance at Clary as Luke starts to pass out the papers. "You okay?" I ask her, keeping her voice soft.

"Fine." Clary gives me a quick smile, but I can tell it's still bothering her a little bit. "So, who gets Jason when?"

"Maybe weekends?" I offer. "You take him during the week?"

Clary eyes me. Of course she notices the fact that I'd get him two days after she'd have him for five. "Sure. Give me the kid on all the school days," she says.

I eye her right back. "My brothers don't know how to take care of a baby—and neither of them would be willing to do it, for that matter—and I'm not going to my parents for help. You'll have your dad _and _Mary."

"Fine," she mutters in defeat, writing it down. Ha. Point for Jace. "I think that's all we've got to put down."

"So as of right now, we're technically divorced." I say.

"There's nothing technical about it. We're not even _really _married."

"Okay. Hypothetically, then." I correct, and then I ask, "So are we supposed to act cross with each other, or...?"

"No." Clary muses. "At least, I don't think so. I vote against it."

I grin at her. "So do I."

I kiss her, still smiling against her mouth, and I smile a little wider as Isabelle makes a teasing disgusted noise from behind us.

* * *

><p>Clary drops me off after school back at my house. When I get to the kitchen, looking for a snack, Max is sitting at the counter.<p>

"Jace!" he exclaims, rushing to hug me. "Where's Clary? And Jason?"

"At Clary's." I ruffle his hair and he scowls at me. "Only for two weeks, kid."

"_Good." _ Max pouts. "I miss them."

Two hours later, Mom and Dad still haven't shown up. I frown as I poke my head into the library. "Hey, Max," I tell him, "d'you want to help me make dinner?"

"Sure." Max grins at me. "I'm really glad you're here, Jace. I didn't want to be by myself again."

"Mom and Dad don't come home often?" I frown.

"They're home every night." Max shakes his head. "They just come home really late."

I ruffle his hair again, and this time he doesn't try to duck out of it. Instead, Max leans closer to me as we head toward the kitchen.

My phone rings, and I pick it up to see Clary's name. "Uh, oh." I frown. "Give me a minute, Max, okay? It's Clary."

"Okay. I'll go find something we can make." Max says, rushing into the kitchen.

"Clary?" I pick up the phone. "Is something wrong? What's up?"

"Nothing's _wrong." _Clary sounds as confused as I feel.

"Oh." Relief floods through me. "Graymark said we could only call each other in case of emergency. So I assumed something was wrong."

"Well...this kind of is an emergency."

My heart starts pounding again. "So something _is _wrong?"

"No!" Clary laughs. "This is a good emergency."

I frown. "Elaborate."

"Jason just crawled for the first time."

"What?" my eyes widen as Max pokes his head out from the kitchen, frowning. "That is _so _not fair! I want to see it!"

Clary laughs loudly. "He'll most likely be sleeping by the time you get here, or I'd invite you over. But you can come over tomorrow and hang out with him, if you want?"

"Isn't that against the project?"

"Luke won't know."

"Clary Morgenstern is breaking rules?" I fake-gasp and my brother laughs. I flash a grin at him. "My God. Who are you and what have you done with me girlfriend?"

"Very funny, Jace," says Clary dryly. "Okay, I have to go. I've left Jason in the hands of my brother for too long. I just thought you'd want to know."

"I did want to know." I smile softly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Thanks, Clary. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay? Love you."

"Love you too," says Clary. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say.

As soon as I hang up, Max asks, "What happened?"

"Jason crawled for the first time." I followed him into the kitchen. "I'm _so _mad that I missed it."

"You'll see him soon, won't you?" he looks up at me.

"Of course I will." I open the pantry. "So what did you find for us to make?"

Max pauses. "Are you and Clary in a fake-divorce?" he asks me.

I'm glad that I'm not facing him so he can't see the look on my face. "Uh...yeah, kid," I say. "Why?"

"Because you're supposed to be at her house, and you two are pretty much inseparable." Max points out. "I don't like any kind of divorce, Jace. Who's making you do this?"

"Our teacher." I put my hand on his shoulder. "But it's okay, Max—we're still talking. Clary's just at her house for a couple weeks."

"So you still love her?" he asks me.

I nod, squeezing his shoulder. "I still love her."

"Good." he admits. "Mom and Dad are already probably getting a divorce. I don't want you to have one, either—even if it's fake."

Max gives me a quick hug and then scurries out of the room. I lean against the counter and sigh unhappily.

* * *

><p>The doorbell rings Friday afternoon, and I know who it is before I reach it—it's Clary with Jason, who is now mine for the weekend.<p>

"Can you believe it's the end of April?" I say immediately, opening the door. Clary's eyes light up.

"No," she admits with a wide smile on her face. "Hey."

"Hi." I respond, kissing her forehead with an equally wide grin on my face. "How's Jason been?"

"Make sure your eyes are on him at all times." she warns me. "Now that he's crawling, he will get into anything he can reach himself."

"Oh, great." I say. I hadn't even thought about that. The house is _definitely _not baby-proofed.

"Just be grateful you only have him for two days instead of five in a row," says Clary grumpily.

Hey, you agreed to it, sister. I only guilted you into it. "Well, this is only for what, another week?" I pointed out. "And then we'll be back at your place."

"And then we've only got a month and a half until school—and the project—ends." Clary hands Jason to me and I hold him to the side, walking down the hall toward the library.

"It's crazy." I agree. "But did you get to send your application to Michigan yet?"

"I'm sending it this weekend." she responds. "And Jon and Mary are leaving on Sunday for finals."

I almost forgot that they were in college. I've been so used to having them around that I forgot. "When will they be back?"

"Jon's coming home in late May," says Clary, leaning back against the couch. "I'm not sure when Mary will visit again, though. When are you planning on sending in applications?"

"I got a couple in this week." I admit. She looks a little surprised. "One to Michigan, like we'd talked about, and then one for Indiana University."

"I'll bet you'll get in." Clary muses.

"We can only hope, right?"

Clary half-smiles in response. "Right. But not right now. I actually have to get back home...Jon, Mary, Dad, and I are going to dinner."

"And here I was, hoping I could snag you for a few minutes longer." I say, sighing. This is the only time we get to be together for two weeks and I hate only being able to make small talk. It reminds me of my divorcing parents even more, and it really sucks. But reluctantly, I add, "All right. Have fun with your family and tell them I said hi."

"I will." Clary promises. "I'll see you on Sunday."

Although only being in two days, Sunday seems so far away. I nod as I watch her turn, heading toward the exit.

"Clary?" I call, setting Jason down on the floor. I reach her before she can turn around, kissing her gently. She lets out a noise of surprise. "Forgot something."

"I can tell," Clary mumbles back against my mouth, wrapping her arm around my neck. I missed her. I still miss her even though she's right in front of me.

Jeez. When did I get so whipped? Alec would be laughing his ass off at me right now.

I nearly jump in surprise when there's a loud crash, and Clary pulls back, her emerald eyes looking at something right behind me. That something is Jason, surrounded by books from one of the shelves. He's giggling.

"I told you to keep an eye on him." Clary laughs.

I glare at her. "You aren't serious right now."

She kisses the corner of my mouth. "I'll see you on Sunday. Love you."

"Yeah, yeah." I grumble, picking up the baby from the ground. Giving my girlfriend a half smile, I reply, "Love you too."

And then I yell, "Ow!" when Jason reaches up and closes his fist on my hair, tugging forcefully.

Clary throws her head back and laughs as she leaves the room.

"That is not _funny, _Jason." I scold the kid in my arms, but he's so cute that I can't stay mad at him. I pull his hand from my hair and change the way I'm holding him so he can't reach my hair, and then with one hand I put the books back on the shelf.

I sigh. This whole divorce thing really does suck.

* * *

><p><strong>Okaaaaay! It's been so long since I updated that I feel sooooo bad, but I swear we're getting there. I know I keep saying that every chapter, but this time, I mean it—this super-long chapter takes us all the way to chapter 32 of PM. Next chapter will be chapter 33 to hopefully chapter 35, and then the epilogue—which means that at the same time I am publishing the epilogue of this story, I will be publishing the epilogue of PM! I wanted it to be a complete surprise, so that's why I haven't updated PM since September. Review for me? I'll put the next chapter up by tomorrow, I swear.<strong>


	27. twenty seven

**Author's Note: Here is the second to last chapter, if I remember correctly!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Seven<strong>

Isabelle barges into the library late Saturday night, waking me up from my doze on the couch. Jason is down for the night, in his pack and play in my room, but he's such an odd sleeper that he could wake up at even the softest noise.

I yawn loudly and sit straight up, feeling disoriented. "Izzy, why are you disturbing me? I was sleeping."

"It's only ten o'clock, lazy bones." Isabelle says with a sniff.

"I need my beauty sleep." I say, chucking a pillow at her.

She dodges it. "I have a proposition for you."

"What?"

"Go on a date with Clary."

I raise my eyebrows. "Okay. What else?"

"Nothing else."

"Izzy, that's not a proposition. That's more like an order."

"Well, it is an order." Isabelle says simply. I don't know if it's because I'm half-awake, or because she's _Isabelle, _but none of this is making sense to me.

"So..." I say slowly. "You want me to take Clary on a date?"

"She has informed me that you haven't even _had _a first date." Isabelle picks up the pillow and chucks it right back at me, putting her hands on her hips. "What kind of dating etiquette is that?"

"This is the twenty-first century." I retort. "There is no more 'dating etiquette'."

"Well, there's an Isabelle etiquette, and you broke it." she says stubbornly.

"Jeez, Izzy, I already said I'd take her out on a date."

"Good." she says. "Now if you excuse me, I may or may not have left Alexandra crying in order to come talk to you."

"Isabelle!" I say, appalled.

"I said may not have!" she defends herself as she speeds out of the library.

I shake my head as I sit up from the couch, following the hallway from the library to my dark bedroom. Using my phone flashlight, I make my way to my bed. Jason's breathing is a steady and soothing rise and fall, but I don't fall asleep to the sound of it right away.

Taking Clary on a regular date just doesn't seem right to me. She's not a regular girl. Our relationship isn't a regular relationship. It has to be special.

I fall asleep shortly after that, dreaming of a night under the stars.

* * *

><p>"How was the weekend with Jason?" Clary is smiling at me as she opens her door.<p>

"Eventful." I admit, exhaling. I set Jason down on the ground and he immediately crawls toward Clary's couch. "You were right about keeping an eye on him at all times, though. That got me into a bit of trouble at least five times."

She hits my shoulder. "You never listen."

I grin at her. "It's a gift."

Clary shuts the door behind me. "So did you hear from Isabelle? About us?"

Did I hear from my sister who woke me up and demanded that I take my girlfriend out on a date? "Oh, yeah. Us going on a date? I heard about that. Too much." I kiss her cheek and laugh. "But I was thinking she was right. Not now, of course, we've got no time, but..sometime in the near future. Does that sound like a plan?"

Clary fake gasps and puts her hands on her hips. "Why, Jace Lightwood, are you asking me out on a _date?"_

"I think I am," I say, sounding just as surprised, and she joins me when I laugh. "Anyways, I wish I could stay, but I've got homework to do." And when I say homework, I mean a four page paper due tomorrow morning.

"You're such a procrastinator." Clary chides.

"That's me." I grin again, reaching out and pulling her against me with my arm around her waist. I kiss her gently. "See you tomorrow at school."

I turn around and head out the door. Just as I pull the door closed behind me, I hear her say, "See you," breathlessly, and I smile as I get into my car and drive away from Clary's house.

* * *

><p>Monday morning, I get to psychology early with Isabelle, who is barely awake until she sees Simon sitting in his seat. I stifle my laugh as I set my bag down on my desk, watching as my sister slides into her seat energetically as if she's been up for hours.<p>

I patiently wait for Clary, but as the bell rings ten minutes later, I realise that she isn't here. And she doesn't show up for the rest of the hour. I consider texting her, but...as I make my way to my second hour, I brush it off. She's fine. Maybe she just slept in. I'll see her at lunch.

But when lunch comes, she isn't there, either. So once I sit down with Simon and Isabelle, I pull out my phone and dial her number.

She picks it up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Clary!" I say, relieved. Simon shakes his head at me teasingly. "You weren't in psychology this morning. Are you okay?"

To my surprise, Clary laughs lightly. "Yeah. I had to drive Jon and Mary to the airport and took the day off, that's all. Dad's watching Jason in the meantime, and when I get back I'm just going to stay home for the rest of the day. I've got unfinished homework."

"So you're staying home to do homework that you didn't finish?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." Clary admits.

I roll my eyes, but I laugh. "Shame on you, Clary Morgenstern."

"Oh, _fine." _Clary laughs too. "I'll visit Alec or something if it makes me less of an awful student."

"He's babysitting Alexandra for Izzy." I tell her. Isabelle nods in agreement at me from the other side of the table. "I'm sure he'd love to see Jason again."

"I'll call him and ask, then," says Clary. "But _you, _Jace Lightwood, are a hypocrite."

I frown. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because you call me a bad student for not doing my homework whilst you _use your phone in class."_

"It's lunchtime, babe." I argue. "Give me a break. And I was worried about you! That should give me some major boyfriend points!"

Simon coughs, "_Whipped." _Isabelle smacks his arm.

"You get three." Clary responds. "Maximum."

"Three?" I complain. Both Isabelle and Simon snicker, so I aim a kick at my sister under the table.

"I've got to go." my girlfriend laughs. "And so do you. Get back to lunch, dummy, before you get a detention."

I sigh. "Okay, okay. I'll talk to you later?"

"We're still technically in a divorce, you know. So we're not supposed to be talking."

Divorced people talk all the time. "Screw that." I mutter. "I love you, Clary."

"I love you too. Talk to you later," she says softly.

"All right. Bye."

"Bye," says Clary, and then she hangs up.

"You are so whipped." Simon tells me. Isabelle hits him again.

"So are you." I respond to him, smirking when he rubs his arm where Isabelle hit him.

"So," says my sister, brushing her black hair away from her face. "Have you thought about where you're taking Clary on your date?"

"I have." I look at my sister. "Her house."

Isabelle's eyes widen. "That's so _lame!" _she complains, kicking me under the table. "Jeez, Jace, have you no romantic bone in your body?"

"Let me finish," I say, glaring at her. "Her house, under her deck. I was thinking that I could bring some blankets and pillows."

Isabelle's expression softens. "Hmm," she says, clearly thinking it over.

I sigh. "Izzy, look—I don't want to take Clary to some restaurant or movie or something on a normal date. Look at her and me: Clary's not a normal girl, and we're not in a normal relationship. There's nothing normal. I want it to be special."

"All right. You've won me over." Isabelle decides, smiling slightly. "I think Clary will love it."

"I know she will." Simon adds. He offers me a smile too.

"Good." I grin. "So you'll help me plan it?"

"Of course." Isabelle promises. "Planning things is what I'm best at."

* * *

><p>I meet Isabelle after school by her car. "So," she says, sitting in the driver's seat. "Have you planned anything for the date yet?"<p>

"Just the location." I shake my head.

"Okay." she puts her keys into the ignition. "Well, what time are you thinking?"

I bite my lip. "Well...it has to be dark, and a clear night. Maybe midnight?"

"Oh, yeah. That's real romantic,'" my sister says sarcastically. "She'll probably just be angry because _you _disturbed her sleep. She's got a baby, you know."

"Clary won't react the same way you did, Iz." I laugh, shaking my head. A couple weeks ago, Isabelle and Simon had planned a date, but Isabelle had fallen asleep around seven that afternoon. Simon had texted her repeatedly so they wouldn't miss their reservation, and Isabelle was more pissed than she was grateful. It was actually kind of funny to watch her scramble around and curse. "I think she'll love it. And I know her as well as you do."

Isabelle purses her lips. "Fine," she says. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

We ride home in silence. Clary's car is in the driveway, and Isabelle parks her car right behind it. "Hello?" calls Isabelle, stepping inside behind me.

"In here!" Alec calls back from the library.

Isabelle hurries ahead of me and bends down next to Alexandra. I follow, smiling at Clary when I see her. "Hey, Clary," I say softly.

"Hey." Clary smiles back. "That's my cue to leave, though."

I kiss her, pulling her close. "See you later," I whisper. Jason sleeps on in her arms.

"See you," she murmurs. Her eyes are sparkling and she looks a little flushed, and it's really cute. I lean forward and kiss her forehead, smiling in response before I leave the library.

Isabelle follows me into my room with Alexandra in her arms. "Okay," she says, sitting on my floor. "Let's plan your date."

"I have homework, Izzy." I say.

She raises an eyebrow. "So do I. Do it later. Dates are more important."

I shake my head. "You need to sort out your priorities."

* * *

><p><strong>All right! Jeez, this took me forever to write, and I totally apologise for the lack of updates recently. Regretfully, I have no excuse other than social media, Marvel movies, and Pretty Little Liars. And summer.<strong>

**I will try to update the next chapter later this week. Next chapter is the last one before the epilogue, which in case you guys forgot, will be updated along with the last official chapter of Project Marriage!**

**My reason for doing this is because I wanted to end both pieces on the same day; I wanted you guys to be able to read the ending in both Jace and Clary's POV and have it be a complete surprise. So just keep waiting a little longer!**

**UPDATE: I know last chapter I said that this would be the last chapter, but if I had done that, this chapter would be like 15 pages, and I didn't want to cram it all into one chapter. But the next chapter, which is PM's chapters 34 and 35, is completely pretyped and finished. Expect it tomorrow.**


	28. twenty eight

**Author's Note: Here it is! The last chapter of Project Carrot before the epilogue! You guys must be as excited as I am.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Eight<strong>

I pick Clary up before school starts and she sets Jason's carseat in the back before climbing in next to him. After a full semester, this once-stupid project is ending today.

I still remember sitting in my seat in psychology, listening to Luke pair Clary and I up as partners. I remember thinking of her as nothing but Carrot, the annoying redhead in my class who I wanted nothing to do with.

I remember falling in love with her. I remember the feeling when I realised that I was in love with her. And every day, I wonder if we would still hate each other if Luke hadn't assigned us to this project.

Instead of driving to school, I drive us to the foster home. We're meeting the class there, because since the project is over, the babies are going back to the foster home. Isabelle was crying this morning. She loves Alexandra. I personally think that Alexandra was the push that made Izzy realise that she really did want a family. I don't know.

As for me? I'm not upset that we're losing Jason. And before I get bashed for sounding heartless, it's because Clary's father is adopting him. So he'll still be around.

I look up at Clary in the rearview mirror. "You okay?" I question. She shakes a toy in front of Jason, who has been whining ever since I picked him and Clary up. Clary thinks it's because Jason knows that we're bringing him back to the foster home.

"Of course." Clary smiles at me. Jason holds onto her finger and shakes it. "Are you?"

"Of course." I say, mimicking her. I grin back. "Just think. You were his foster mother, and now you'll be his sister."

"Yeah; that's a little weird to think about." she laughs. "But I'm glad. Dad will love him."

"He already does." I remind her.

Minutes later, I pull into the parking lot. I see Izzy and Simon, standing close to each other. Alexandra isn't with them. Sighing, I unbuckle my seatbelt and climb out of the car.

Clary keeps the baby toys and the carseat in my car. After school, I'll drive her back to her house and drop the stuff off. Clary's father had promised to come by today to adopt Jason. I think Clary's a little anxious about it, to be honest. "Let's go," she says. It's bothering her; she doesn't want to leave Jason. I kiss her forehead and lace my fingers through hers.

Izzy and Simon wave hello when they see us, and I give my sister a quick smile back.

"Morning, Clary," says Luke to my girlfriend. He squeezes her shoulder.

I don't really pay attention to their brief conversation, but once Clary heads toward the door, I follow her. I watch as her eyes light up when she sees her father, speaking to the woman at the front desk. And I smile a little.

"Hey, Clary," says her father. He takes Jason from Clary.

"So that's it," I say. I let out a breath. "Wow."

I sound a little sadder than I realised.

"You'll still see him all the time." Clary promises, nudging my arm. "He's gonna be my brother now. Just come over whenever you want."

"I'll admit it; I've grown fond of the kid." I put my arm around her shoulders. "I might be over more often than you think."

"Fine with me," says Clary softly.

"See you at home, Clary." Her father is smiling, looking between his daughter and Jason.

"See you." Clary returns her father's smile. That's really it; Jason's adoption is going to be finalised today.

She and I leave the foster home. "She okay?" I mouth to Simon, nodding at Isabelle over Clary's head. Simon nods and kisses my sister's hair. They get into Izzy's car as Clary and I get into mine.

It's strange, honestly. We're all leaving high school tomorrow. Clary and I are going to the same college in the fall.

Oh. Didn't I mention that? Yeah; she and I are both going to University of Michigan. I got accepted a while before Clary did, but I was probably more excited for her than I was for myself when she told me. When we go, I'll be sharing Jon and Sebastian's apartment (which I wasn't originally going to do, until Sebastian promised that he had backed off for good. The only thing I was going to do that involved Sebastian was punch him in the face before that), and Clary's going to live with Mary in their own apartment.

"No sleepovers with my sister." Jon had warned me over the phone. "Or I'll kick your ass. And Mary will tell me."

He's still her older brother and extremely protective. I get it. It's kind of funny, actually, because I have no doubt that Jonathan's going to watch us like a hawk whenever we're together. And I wouldn't be surprised if Valentine put him up to it.

The psychology classroom is void of some of its art decor. Luke has been slowly putting away the posters and notes into their boxes. Now, the classroom looks like a sad place.

"I can't believe how bizarre this is." I laugh a little. Clary and I sit down in our seats and she looks over at me. "I mean...this time last year, we hated each other with a burning passion. In _December, _we hated each other. And now..."

"Quite the opposite." she offers. I smile slightly and lean over to kiss her.

Luke tells us that it's a free period. That's basically all my classes are today, but I wasn't planning on ditching. School's not as bad anymore. Of course my opinion changes just as I'm leaving high school for good.

"Jace," says Clary, "we _graduate _tomorrow."

We're still sitting in our seats, leaning against each other. I draw circles on her hand with my finger. "I know," I say, biting my lip. It feels like I was walking into the school for the firs time yesterday. "And then in a month from then, we're off to Michigan."

"Month and a half." Clary says, automatically. She corrects me more often than not these days, but I don't mind.

I lean over to kiss her temple and roll my eyes. "Month and a half, then," I say. "But still soon."

"And after that?" she looks up at me. She looks a little worried. "After college? We're going to be adults, Jace. In the real world. How _scary _is that? We're just mere years away from being done with school."

"I know." I soothe. "But I've got plans."

"What kind of plans?"

I smile at her. "You'll find out in due time, Carrot. Due time."

Clary crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm not a patient person."

My smile widens. "I know."

* * *

><p>"Good luck," says Isabelle, not lifting her eyes from her magazine as I grab my car keys. "Don't get punched in the face."<p>

* * *

><p>I texted Clary around an hour ago, asking her to meet me in her backyard at half past midnight, and she still hasn't answered. Not that I'm really worried; I've been sitting on the blanket playing Candy Crush for at least half an hour. That game is stupidly addicting.<p>

My phone buzzes and Clary's message pops up: _Shh_, it reads. _Sleeping._

I smile lightly and text her back. _I'm already waiting. You'll like this surprise, I promise._

It takes her five minutes to meet me. I grin at her through the dark as she blinks at me.

"No." she says.

I pout at her. "Oh, come _on, _Clary! It'll be fun!"

"There are bugs out here," she whines.

"Suck it up, buttercup." I respond. "I'll protect you."

"Don't lie." Clary says grumpily, but she walks over to the blanket. I stand up next to her. "I remember you screaming like a little girl last week at a spider."

I put my arms around her. "It was a _huge _spider. And I'm pretty sure it was poisonous."

Clary rolls her eyes at me. "It was not."

I kiss her, and smile slightly when she kisses back. Her arms are around my neck when I pull away and whisper, "So you'll sleep out here?"

"Fine," she whispers back. I kiss her again, grinning. This is so much better than a punch in the face. "But what if it rains?"

"It's not supposed to rain, Clary." I tell her. I grab her hand and sit down again, pulling her with me. "I checked the forecast."

"Forecasts can be incorrect."

"Well, it's a good thing we've got a solid deck above us, then, isn't it?" I point out.

She raises her eyebrows. "Does my dad know about this? Or my brother?"

She doesn't think I would do this without at least telling one of them, did she? I don't have a death wish. "No, and yes. But Jon's okay with it and your dad won't be awake when we have to go to school."

"You don't have stuff." Clary says accusingly.

"It's inside." I groan. She's difficult when she's tired. "Clary, just _relax_. This is our last night as high schoolers. Just go with it, love, okay?"

"Love?" repeats Clary. "Isn't that a British term."

"_Clary."_

"Okay, okay." Clary puts her hands up. "Fine. No more party pooper Clary."

At least she knows that she's doing it. I kiss her cheek. "Good."

Graduation is tomorrow. We're out of high school tomorrow. It scares me, honestly—but as long as Clary's by my side, I'm okay. I really am. I would never have thought that this would be how I ended my senior year, but...I can't imagine wanting anything other than this.

I love Clary. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. She's my best friend, my favourite person, my girlfriend...

Eventually, after maybe two hours of talking, she falls asleep. And I look down at her. It's too early, probably—way too early, because we're both only eighteen and just out of high school and I don't even have a job and neither does she—but I promise myself, right before I close my eyes and try to sleep, that I will propose to her.

I love her more than anything in the entire world.

But she knows that already.

* * *

><p>"This cap is squeezing my head." I complain. "It's killing brain cells."<p>

"Oh, no." Izzy says sarcastically. "Clary, we better take that cap off his head. He's only got five brain cells left."

I hit her with my graduation cap. "That is _so _not funny."

This morning was possibly one of the best mornings of my life. Clary and I had gotten up, ate breakfast at her house, and then we drove back to my house with our gowns. It feels like...like the end of a story, almost. The end of one book, and college is the sequel. Or maybe the epilogue.

"It kind of is." Clary admits, laughing lightly. She fixes her cap. "Seriously. Did you order the wrong size or something?"

"I did nothing of the sort!" I complain. It's just small. Maybe it shrunk.

"So the correct answer is 'or something.'" Izzy muses. Clary laughs a second time and adjusts the tassel on her cap.

"This sucks." I mutter. "I never even wanted to go to the ceremony anyway."

"Yes you did!" Clary rolls her eyes at me. She pulls the cap out of my hands and raises herself up on her tiptoes, placing it on my head. "You were just telling me last week about how excited you were for this."

"Was _not." _I say.

"Was too!" she argues.

"Okay, you kindergarteners." Izzy teases. "Quit the bickering. We've got to get to the ceremony."

Isabelle called being the driver this morning, so I follow my girlfriend and sister out of the living room. "I can't believe we're graduating," muses Clary. "It feels like just yesterday I was walking through the halls for the first day of my freshman year."

"I know what you mean." Izzy promises.

I smile at Clary. "It feels like it was just yesterday when we hated each other."

Clary smiles back innocently. "Well," she says, "I don't know about you, but for me it _was _just yesterday."

I scowl at her. "_So _not funny, Carrot."

"Of course it's funny, Golden Boy."

What kind of nickname is Golden Boy? I really have to figure out something different.

Izzy laughs. "One thing I won't miss will be listening to you two bicker all the damn time."

"Rude." Clary mutters. Izzy laughs again.

I put my arm around Clary's shoulders. "You know, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Graymark never put us together as partners for Project Marriage."

Clary doesn't say anything, but she leans into me. I can tell that she's thinking about something, but before I can ask, Isabelle interjects, "I would have found a way to set you two."

"And I would have found a way to kill you." I respond. Her smile grows wider.

Clary digs her elbow into my ribs. Her elbow is _really _bony. Ow. "Well, what about you, Izzy?" she inquires. "You and Simon, right? Would you have found your own way to each other?"

"You three are _still _on the mushy romance business?" complains my brother. His arms are crossed over his chest as he leans against the doorway. "I walked by here twenty minutes ago to go pee in the bathroom and you were talking about it. The ceremony starts in two hours and you three have to be there now. Let's go."

"Alec Lightwood, the conversation ruiner." Izzy announces under her breath.

Alec walks past all three of us to the garage and opens the door. "You know you love it." he says, turning to look at her over his shoulder.

I remove my arm from Clary's shoulders and take her hand instead, threading our fingers together. "How can you stand my dysfunctional family?"

"Oh, they're not so bad." Clary reaches up with her free hand to fix her tassel again. "Compared to you, I mean."

"Ha-ha." I say, rolling my eyes.

"I know. I'm _so _funny, right?"

I laugh once and kiss her temple. "You keep telling yourself that, Clary, and eventually it may come true."

"Bitch." she grumbles.

I smile. "Jerk."

"What did I say about the bickering?" Izzy complains. She climbs into the shotgun seat of Alec's car. My brother has triumphant look on his face—I guess he manipulated her into letting him drive instead.

Clary's smiling brightly as Alec pulls out of the garage. I think she loves my family as much as I do, and that makes me happy.

I smile too and sit in content silence for a little while.

* * *

><p>When we arrive at the school, the gymnasium is so packed that I can barely navigate through the crowd. It's buzzing with seniors and teachers—my parents and Max are probably out for breakfast. The doors don't open for them until half an hour before the ceremony starts. What's the capacity in the gym? Whatever. I blame Alec. He's always been a slow driver.<p>

I hold Clary's hand until we reach our seats. Thankfully, our last names are close, so we get to sit next to each other. Even Simon, too—he comes toward us, grumbling about his mother. Simon sits on my sister's other side. I sit next to Izzy. Clary sits next to me. It's bittersweet. At the beginning of this year, we were two different groups—Izzy and I and Simon and Clary. And now...we're all together. I mean, we're practically already family. If Simon ever grows a pair (or, more appropriately, when Isabelle gets impatient and proposes herself), he'll be my brother-in-law someday. And I'm already planning on marrying Clary when we're older, so...

Clary lets go of my hand to hug Simon. "How was getting ready at the Lightwoods'?" he asks her.

Clary's smiling at him. "Loud. And immature."

"Now, now, Clary," I cut in, smiling a little at her. "Self-deprecation is _not _nice, and I won't let you talk about yourself in that way."

"I will punch you." Clary says to me, lowering her eyebrows menacingly.

The smile fades from my face. I don't doubt it. She's little, but she's a hard puncher. When she turns back to Simon, I rub my ribs a little from where she last elbowed me.

Graymark informs us that we need to be respectful and polite in front of the guests before they open the doors. It takes all I have not to roll my eyes. This gymnasium is full of teenage girls and boys—and soon, it'll be full with teenagers and little kids and parents. He should know better.

He winks at Clary and moves to open the doors. Clary is sitting down again, and I take her hand as we wait. "This is really it," I say. I feel a little overwhelmed, maybe. But it can't be nerves. This isn't something to be nervous about. "We're really graduating."

"Yeah." Clary is smiling, but she's not looking at me. I follow her gaze to the doors, where her family is. First are Jon and Mary, and then her parents. It's kind of nice to see them looking at least amiable with each other. In her father's arms is Jason. "We really are."

It takes a little while for everyone to settle, and even when Luke steps up to the podium and speaks into the microphone, the talking doesn't completely stop. I nearly fall asleep waiting—I'm sure Clary would hit me if I tell her that, but there are a lot of seniors and I do not have a very patient personality.

I glance up at the clock. It's been over an hour since the ceremony started. Simon stands, and most people cheer for him—Izzy is probably blowing her voice out as she yells, and I say to her, "If I have to get a hearing aid after today, you're paying for it."

My sister punches me in the arm in response and I glare at her. But it's gone when Luke calls her name. Simon looks a little uncomfortable when there are cat calls among the cheers, but it's probably just Eric Hillchurch or some idiot like that.

Isabelle sits down again. "You know, we never thought this day would come for you," I murmur to her. Luke calls my name, and Clary whispers to me, "Here we go," with a squeeze of my hand.

"Same to you, Jace." Izzy murmurs back. She purposely sticks her foot out for me, but I step over it and keep walking.

"Go Jace!" shouts Max. I find him; he's waving energetically, his glasses sliding down his nose. I smile slightly. That kid never pushes his glasses up. I should glue them to his face so they won't slide anymore or something.

Luke calls Clary next, and I pass her on the way there. Smiling, I reach for her hand and squeeze it. She's shaking. I don't blame her.

When I sit down, Luke is hugging her briefly. Then Clary turns around and heads back toward her seat. I pay no attention to whoever is called next; I only pay attention to my girlfriend, reaching over for her still-shaking hands as she sits. "All good?" I ask, smiling at her.

"All good," she promises. She keeps a tight hold on my hand as she leans back in her chair.

And she's right. For the first time in a long time, _everything _is good.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you go! This was the last chapter before the epilogue! Gosh, this story has taken me over a year, but I'm so glad that I wrote it.<strong>

**Epilogue will come soon. It will maybe be longer than this chapter. I will make no such promise. Don't take my word for it. Project Marriage's epilogue will be up soon, too. Same day as this epilogue. :-)**

**UPDATE: As I'm just about to post this, I feel inclined to let you all know that the epilogue for Project Marriage is officially finished. I am hoping to get it up tomorrow, if I can write this epilogue in time. **


	29. epilogue

**Author's Note: I HIGHLY ADVISE ALL OF YOU TO READ THE PROJECT MARRIAGE EPILOGUE FIRST IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. CHRONOLOGICALLY, THAT ONE OCCURS FIRST. IF YOU DON'T, YOU WILL BE CONFUSED.**

**(After careful consideration, I've just decided to write Jace's epilogue as a continuation of PM's epilogue.)**

**This is Jace's epilogue. So if you were eager for more Clace!epilogue, or if you just wanted to hear Jace's sassy, sarcastic quips, or if you're just reading it because you've been reading Project Carrot, then you've come to the right place. :-)**

**Lol. This author's note is **_**so much shorter **_**than the one on Project Marriage.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue (Eight Years Later; Approximately Six Months After Career Day At Alicante Elementary)<strong>

"I hate you." I say to Isabelle.

Isabelle smiles broadly at me. "You love me," she says, tucking her arm into mine.

"I hate you." I repeat. "Why have you done this to me? I thought we were twins, Izzy. I thought you hated to see me suffer."

"I do." her lower lip juts out in a pout.

"Then _why _did you decide to set your wedding date for the hottest day of the year? I should have declined the invitation when I got the chance."

Isabelle Lightwood—_no, _because as of two hours ago, she's now Isabelle _Lewis_—looks seriously offended. "You wouldn't have," she says, miffed.

"I might have," I say.

"I hate you." she says to me, pulling her arm out of mine.

I give her a very wide, very sarcastic smile. "You love me."

"I hate you," she repeats.

"Stop being so rude," says Clary, sounding exasperated. She sounds like that every time she tells me to stop doing something, which is actually a lot. It's usually when I argue with Isabelle, though. "Both of you," she adds. "Neither of you hate each other. You love each other. End of story."

Isabelle purses her lips. "But _Clary,_" she whines, "he told me he hated me."

"He does make a fair point about the heat thing." Clary points out. "I mean, you're looking at my hair right now, aren't you?"

"Your hair is perfectly _fine, _darling," I say for what feels like the millionth time. Clary has this weird thing where she thinks she's got a big, red afro when it's hot out.

Isabelle crosses her arms over her chest. "If Jace admits that he was lying when he said he might have declined his invitation, then I'll get over it."

"I wasn't lying." I say, but I totally was. I wouldn't have missed this day for the world.

"Stop it." Clary sounds very tired and very, very annoyed. If there's one thing I don't want, it's a very tired and very annoyed Clary. Who is coming home with me. Shudder.

"Okay." I sigh and turn to my sister. "Yes. I was kidding. I wouldn't have missed this wedding for anything, Izzy. Even if I was sweating buckets and literally dying from the heat."

Isabelle digs her elbow into my ribs. "There. Okay. I'm happy now. Where's Simon?"

"Dancing with Ama." Clary says. Man, Ama is cute. I mean, I basically have her to thank for seeing Clary again. She all-but pulled me into Clary's art classroom that day at Alicante Elementary.

Ama reminds me a lot of Jason. Who, by the way, I haven't seen in _forever—_the last time I saw Jason was around his first birthday. Valentine packed up his things and moved out to California. Jason should be...what, ten now? Man. Time flies.

I still regret that I didn't spend those ten years with Clary, but...life happens, I guess. But this time, I'm _really _not going to let her go.

"Ah." Izzy sighs. "Great. Does that mean I have to keep hanging out with you guys?"

"Hey!" Clary says, offended. She's heavily distracted, I can tell, but her attention sharpens as she glares at Isabelle. "What did I do?"

"You decided to date my annoying brother."

"You're making me seriously contemplate building a time machine and declining my invitation to your wedding." I deadpan. Isabelle just glares at me this time.

In case it wasn't clear, Isabelle's reception, just like her wedding, is outside. And it's July. And it's New York. And it's really hot. And I'm in a suit.

Nothing about this is good. Other than the fact that Clary looks beautiful in her dress. And that Izzy is marrying a nerd instead of a douchebag.

"Why are you being so weird, Izzy?" I push the hair out of my eyes. It's getting long and I have to cut it. I've been incredibly lazy since I quit the army, but honestly, the longer hair is kinda nice. I see people on the street eyeing my hearing aid sometimes. Sometimes it pisses me off. Other times it makes me upset.

Clary is perfect through all of it.

"I'm not being weird." Isabelle argues. She says it in her defensive tone.

"Right." I say. "Seriously, what's up?"

She bites her lip. "All right. Fine. Promise not to tell?"

"Cross my heart," I say.

"Hope to die," says Clary. She looks as interested as I do.

Isabelle puts both of her hands over her stomach, and that's when I get it. "I'm pregnant," she says. "Or...at least, I think I am."

"Izzy." Clary is beaming. Her whole face is alight. "That's amazing!"

"Congrats, baby sis." I say. I'm just as happy. Isabelle's face lights up too. "God, Mom's gonna cry when you tell her."

"Forget Maryse," says Clary. "_Simon's _going to cry when you tell him. Have a video camera handy."

Isabelle laughs. "I kind of want to tell him now," she says. "Just to have everyone see it."

"I'm not opposed." I say.

Izzy stands up and tugs on one of her curls. "All right. I'll be right back."

"Get Alec to record it." Clary calls after her.

My sister laughs as she walks away.

I look up at my girlfriend. She watches Isabelle with a broad smile, giggling when she sees Alec take his iPhone out. "You know," I say, and she nods in acknowledgement without taking her eyes off the scene. I look over too, just in time to see Simon's face drain of colour. "Seeing as you're the maid of honour, and seeing as I'm the best man, you know what I think?"

"What do you think, Jace?" asks Clary. Her smile is soft. I literally think Simon is crying right now.

"I think we should sleep together. It's a wedding tradition, right?"

Clary looks away from the scene and focuses her eyes on me. Then she rolls them, crossing her arms over her chest. "I suppose it is, Jace, but what makes you think I want to sleep with _you?_"

"Ouch," I say, feigning hurt as I place my hand over my chest. "I thought you loved me, Clary."

"I never said that." she knits her eyebrows in confusion. "Honey, are your hearing aids working fine?"

I scowl at her and she knows it's fake. Clary, unlike my parents, teases me about my lack of hearing. When I first saw Mom after I came home, she cried a lot. I went to my old room and took out my hearing aids so I couldn't hear her sob as loudly. It made me feel useless, or broken, and she kept staring at me like I was about to break. Dad wasn't as bad about it, but he had a sad look in his eyes when he thought I wasn't paying attention. But I was.

Clary, on the other hand, doesn't give a shit. She teases me all the time. She likes to tell me important things when we first wake up, so that she can give me shit for them later when I don't remember them (or, when I tell her that I _didn't hear her_). Sometimes Clary worries that she's gone too far, but she makes me feel like I'm perfectly fine. No matter how frustrated she makes me sometimes, it's better than the broken look in Mom's eyes.

"Aunt Clary!" calls Alexa. She bounds up to her and beams. "Will you dance with me?"

"Where's Ama? I thought you wanted to dance with her," says Clary, frowning.

Alexa pouts. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that she's adopted, because that look has Alec written all over it. "She's dancing with Uncle Max," she says, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I want to dance with someone, too."

"Well, in that case, of _course _I'll dance with you." Clary stands up.

I clear my throat. "Do you think two people dancing with you will make her jealous, Al?"

Alexa's expression brightens. "Yes!"

That's how I end up spinning both Clary and Alexa under my arms at the same time. It's a lot of laughter and a lot of toe-stepping and a lot of spinning, and as we dance, I look over at Clary, whose eyes are sparkling and I smile when she cracks up laughing.

It's not too early to propose, is it?

Oh, what am I thinking? Of course it is. It's that stupid wedding thing that's getting to me. Nostalgia, or whatever, right? For my own wedding. But I don't really want to marry Clary right now, do I? Would she even say yes?

No. I'm talking stupid. I push the thoughts out of my mind and return to Clary's laugh and Alexa's giggle.

* * *

><p>"Holy crap." Clary breathes. "Alec, he's just the cutest little thing."<p>

Alec and Magnus have outdone their little girl. Around a month after Izzy and Simon's wedding, my brother and his husband started filling out adoption papers for a newborn baby boy. And today is the day that they took Ian Robert Lightwood-Bane home.

"He is seriously cute." I agree, slinging my arm around Clary's shoulders. Alec smiles proudly. "Is Alexa excited?"

"She's more than excited." Alec says. The girl in question is up in Ian's new room, decorating it for her baby brother. "She might have peed her pants a little. I think she'll be a great big sister. Clary, when's your mom due, again?"

Ah. Right. Jocelyn, Clary's mom, got pregnant again right around when I went to Alicante Elementary for Career Day. Clary had told me in February. "Next month, I think. Early." Clary muses, thumbing through text messages on her phone. "Yeah. Her baby and Ian will probably be in the same grade. Probably best friends, too."

"Of course." Magnus laughs. "Listen, next time your mom gets pregnant, tell us so we can get another kid. Our kids and your siblings are just meant to be best friends."

"I'm glad." Alec muses. Ian is sleeping away in his arms.

"Me too." Clary smiles back at him. She leans into my side and yawns a little.

"I think we should be getting home," I say, nudging her. Right before Izzy and Simon's wedding is when we moved in together. I sold my apartment and she sold hers and we bought a new one, which is pretty nice and pretty good rent for Manhattan. "You've got work in the morning."

"So do you." Clary mumbles into my shoulder.

"Yup," I say. "But my job doesn't require me to get up at the asscrack of dawn."

"Little ears," warns Alec.

I smile sheepishly at him. "Sorry. Anyways, Clary, you look dead on your feet. Let's go."

"But he's so cute," she complains. "Just five more minutes?"

"We'll come back as soon as possible." I promise her.

"Tomorrow is good," says Magnus helpfully.

"We'll come back tomorrow, then," I say, kissing Clary's temple. "Come on."

Clary waves behind her as we leave. She sits in the passenger seat of my car as I drive us home, and we've been in the car for all-but ten minutes when she whines, "Jaaaaaace."

"Whaaaaaat?" I mimic, looking over at her.

She's looking out the window and not at me. "Babies are so cute," she says. "We should start trying for a baby."

I nearly slam on the brakes in alarm, and it takes me a whole minute to realise that she was kidding. "Holy _shit, _Clary, don't scare me like that."

But Clary just laughs.

"We should wait until we're married." I say. My heart is pounding.

Clary's laughter stops.

"Yeah." I turn onto the highway. "I'm not kidding."

And I'm really not. Clary breathes in and out loudly from her seat, but she says nothing. Instead, she leans forward and turns the radio on.

So...I may have just scared the shit out of my girlfriend. Maybe not.

(She deserves it for scaring me about the whole kids thing. Granted, she was kidding and I wasn't. Oh well.)

* * *

><p>Isabelle and Simon find out the gender only minutes before we do—in the hospital. They have a baby girl and they name her—<p>

"Evelyn Clarissa." Simon says, beaming brightly. His hands are totally shaking. I remember his nervous breakdown last August, not too long after his wedding, when he freaked out and nearly drank his weight in beer at my apartment. Simon was terrified about being a father. His father had died when he was little, so he hadn't really had a role model growing up. So it's easy to tell that he's still nervous. "She's perfectly healthy and Isabelle's begging to let you guys in, so—"

Clary flies at him in all her short glory. He's an inch shorter than I am, so when she hugs him fiercely, he doesn't even budge. "Simon," she says to him, "I love you."

"What am I, chopped liver?" I joke. Simon's cheeks are bright red.

"Name your firstborn after me." Clary says without turning around.

"Sure. Maybe she'll look just like her namesake. Is red hair dominant over blond?"

Alec sniggers. Simon looks up at me and mouths, 'She's totally blushing.'

"Come on." Max says, crossing his arms over his chest. "I want to meet my niece."

Max is a junior in high school and is still as stubborn as he's always been. He's also still super obsessed with superheroes. My baby brother's a nerd.

Clary pulls away from Simon and lets him lead us down the hall. Clary's still blushing lightly as I slip my arm around her shoulders.

Evelyn Clarissa Lewis, who is going to go by Eve, has round dark eyes and super chubby cheeks. Needless to say, she's _adorable._

She cries a little. Simon cries a little. Aw, hell, even I cry a little, but only because Izzy's my baby sister (by _two minutes, _she always complains) and because she's married and grown up and it feels like just yesterday that she was stomping on my Legos in her little shoes at age three.

But it's okay. Isabelle cries a lot.

* * *

><p>Now I'm <em>sure <em>it isn't too early to propose.

It's January, and it's been two years since I went to Alicante Elementary and saw Clary again for the first time in years.

"I'm stalling her as long as I can, but it won't be very longer," warns Isabelle. "Eve's getting cranky. I have to feed her soon."

Eve was born in April and is now nine months old. She's also a little spitfire—which is no surprise, considering that she's Izzy's daughter.

"I'm at the school." I say. "You can let her get over here now."

"Just be grateful that the thirteenth fell on a Saturday this year, Jace." Izzy says, and then she hangs up.

I'm not going to lie; I'm nervous. And I know from Isabelle that Clary is perfectly happy being in a relationship, but...I've wanted to spend the rest of my life with her since the end of senior year.

So it takes Clary a half hour to get to the elementary school. "Jace?" she calls from the hallway. "I got your text, why—"

She falls silent as she stops in the doorway of her classroom. "Wow." Clary blinks at me. "Nice uniform."

"Fits like a glove," I say, straightening the army jacket. "You look beautiful."

"I look no different than yesterday." she steps inside the room. "Jace, what—"

"Let me finish." I interrupt her gently. Clary raises her eyebrows but says nothing. "Today's our second anniversary, I suppose."

"I thought you forgot." she says.

"I would never forget." I say.

Clary smiles slightly and shakes her head. "Of course you wouldn't. I just...assumed, because this morning you weren't there."

"This morning, I was at Simon and Isabelle's and freaking out." The ring box feels incredibly heavy in my pocket. "Clary, you know how much I love you."

"Of course I do." Clary smiles brightly this time.

"And in high school, I loved being fake-married to you." I smile back at her as she steps closer to me. "And I want the real thing."

"Do you know?" inquires Clary, placing her hands on her hips. She's still beaming.

"You don't sound surprised," I say.

"You're not very secretive." she answers. "But, I can pretend to be super surprised if you want me to."

"You see, now I don't even want to propose. I was expecting full fireworks, darlin'," I say, frowning at her.

Clary laughs. "I can try my hardest," she promises.

I roll my eyes and kneel down, pulling the ring box out of my pocket. "Clarissa Adele Morgenstern," I say slowly, ignoring her scowl at her full name, "I love you. Very much. And I do want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Of _course," _she says, beaming broadly. "Of course I'll marry you, Jace."

Clary's my best friend. My soulmate. The girl I'll always be in love with. I stand up and kiss her, pulling her close.

"I love you," she murmurs, pulling back to look up at me.

"The ring isn't much," I say sheepishly. "It's kind of small, but—"

"It's perfect, Jace," she interrupts, looking down at it. I slide it onto her finger and she says, "I don't need a big ring. I don't care if it's a freaking Ring-Pop. I just want you."

I kiss her again, smiling broadly. I love her so much.

"All right," I say, pulling away. "Can we get back home now? This uniform may still fit, but it's really tight and a little uncomfortable in some places."

Clary laughs. "Sure, babe. If you need some help getting those pants off, I can totally help."

She winks at me, and then I laugh, taking her hand and leading her out of the classroom.

Yeah. Life without Clary would be...the worst, and I'm glad that she's going to be my wife.

My real wife this time. Not my fake one.

When we stop at Izzy and Simon's later that day, Isabelle squeals loudly with Eve on her hip. She's already seen the ring several times, but I think something about actually seeing it on Clary's finger makes it seem like she's seeing it for the first time.

* * *

><p>We get married in August, just before Clary's birthday, and spend our honeymoon in rainy England, because it's somewhere that Clary has always wanted to go. We're in England on her birthday and she does nothing but smile and neither do I.<p>

I wouldn't have guessed it at the beginning of the last semester of my senior year, but Luke Graymark really was preparing me for my future. An author might call that really great foreshadowing. Graymark would probably call it matchmaking. Clary calls it destiny.

I call it luck.

I also still call her Carrot.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaaand. That is the official end of Project Carrot!<strong>

**Gosh, that took me a while. But as soon as I started it, I was on a roll. **

**I write my sappy end-note at the end of the Project Marriage epilogue, but I can say the same here: to those of you who have been here since the beginning, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It means so much to me that you've all stayed with me. To those of you who are more recent, the respect is still there. I'm so glad that you've all read my stories.**

**So much love. (Now to turn my attention onto NSB, haha.) Xx**


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